{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_28773/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_28773","id":"gutenberg_28773","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28773","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - British","Category: History - Warfare","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Generals -- Great Britain -- Biography","Gordon, Charles George, 1833-1885"],"text":"E-text prepared by David Clarke and the Project Gutenberg Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nNote: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this\n      file which includes the original illustration.\n      See 28773-h.htm or 28773-h.zip:\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/28773/pg28773-images.html)\n      or\n      (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/28773/28773-h.zip)\n\n\n\n\n\nGENERAL GORDON\n\n\n[Illustration: C. G. Gordon\n\nP.S. I am quite happy, thank God, & like Lawrence, I have \"tried\nto do my duty.\"\n\n_Copied from the Original Engraving by permission of_\nF. C. MCQUEEN & SONS, _sole Proprietors of the Copyright._]\n\n\nGENERAL GORDON\n\nA Christian Hero\n\nby\n\nLIEUT.-COLONEL SETON CHURCHILL\n\nAuthor of \"Stepping-Stones to Higher Things,\" Etc.\n\n13th Edition\n(_Completing 41,000 Copies_)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLondon\nJames Nisbet & Co., Limited\n21 Berners Street\n\n1907\n\nPrinted by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.\nAt the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh\n\n\n\n\n_DEDICATED_\n\nTO THE\n\nYOUNG MEN OF ENGLAND\n\nWITH THE EARNEST DESIRE THAT SOME OF THE NOBLE\nGODLIKE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS\n\nCHRISTIAN SOLDIER AND HERO\n\nMAY BE REPRODUCED IN FUTURE GENERATIONS\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nCHAP.                                              PAGE\n\n   I. INTRODUCTION                                    1\n\n  II. EARLY LIFE AND CRIMEAN WAR                     12\n\n III. CHINESE WAR AND TAIPING REBELLION              25\n\n  IV. GORDON'S FIRST COMMAND                         36\n\n   V. PROGRESS OF THE REBELLION                      50\n\n  VI. END OF THE REBELLION                           65\n\n VII. AT GRAVESEND                                   80\n\nVIII. GORDON'S SIMPLE FAITH                          92\n\n  IX. HIS CATHOLICITY                               114\n\n   X. GOVERNOR OF THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCE           135\n\n  XI. GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE SOUDAN                157\n\n XII. ABYSSINIA, INDIA, AND CHINA                   178\n\nXIII. MAURITIUS, CAPE, AND PALESTINE                190\n\n XIV. KHARTOUM                                      209\n\n  XV. THE SIEGE                                     230\n\n XVI. THE FALL OF KHARTOUM                          246\n\nXVII. CONCLUSION                                    263\n\n\n\n\nLIFE OF GORDON\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nLord Wolseley, on hearing an officer say that General Gordon was mad,\nremarked, in language similar to that used by George II. to the Duke of\nNewcastle about General Wolfe, that it was a great pity Gordon had not\nbitten more Generals, so that they might have been infected with some\nof his madness. Nor is there any reason why the motive power which\ncould make a man do such noble deeds and lead such a splendid life\nshould be confined to Generals. There are thousands of young men in\nthis country who may be helped to live better lives by the study of\nsuch a Christian hero as Charles George Gordon undoubtedly was, and it\nis with that end in view that I have endeavoured to write a popular\nsketch of his life and character.\n\nMy object in adding to the number of biographies[1] already written of\nGeneral Gordon is to meet the demand for a popular book for young men\nand others, which will focus the events of his life into one handy\nvolume, and which shall at the same time give a clear insight into the\nreligious life of this Christian hero. This I have attempted to combine\nwith a sketch of his military, political, and social life, setting\nforth not only the deeds of the man, but the motive which prompted\nthem. The best writers on Gordon have taken up parts of his life only,\nso that no one can get a view of it as a whole without wading through a\nlarge number of volumes, some of them very ponderous. The best record\nof his career in China is a work by Mr. Andrew Wilson called \"The\nEver-Victorious Army.\" A smaller book by Mr. W. E. Lilley gives an\ninteresting account of Gordon's life at Gravesend. The first part of\nhis life in Africa is given in a larger volume by Dr. G. Birkbeck Hill,\ncalled \"Colonel Gordon in Central Africa.\" The late Prebendary Barnes\nedited a small book, \"Reflections in Palestine,\" and Mr. A. Egmont Hake\nhas published a complete account of the hero's career at Khartoum in\n\"The Journals of General Gordon,\" which were given to him in manuscript\nto be edited. In addition to this valuable work, the same writer, who\nis a distant cousin of Gordon's, has written two large volumes,\nembracing the whole of his life, under the title \"The Story of Chinese\nGordon.\"\n\n      [1] In certain points where I have differed from other writers, I\n      have relied on the opinion of a near relative of the late General\n      Gordon, as to the accuracy of the statements put forward.\n\nThe late Sir Henry Gordon has also written a biography; but though an\nable man and very fond of his brother, it is not generally considered\nthat he did full justice to his memory. The brothers were widely\nseparated in age, there being fourteen years between them; and owing to\nthe younger one having spent so much of his life abroad, they had not\nseen much of each other. Colonel Sir William F. Butler has written the\nablest and most interesting of all the biographies which embrace the\nwhole of Gordon's life, but as he is a Roman Catholic, it could not be\nexpected that he would enter largely into the religious views of his\nhero. The remarks he does make on the subject are, however, excellent\nand in good taste. Another capital sketch of Gordon has been produced\nby the celebrated war correspondent Archibald Forbes, who not\nunnaturally devotes most of his space to the military aspect of\nGordon's career, and says but little about his religious life. From the\nreligious standpoint the best information can be got from the \"Letters\nof General Gordon to his Sister,\" edited by Miss Gordon. There seems to\nhave been a special bond of sympathy between the brother and sister,\nand she seems to have been made the recipient of all his confidences,\nreligious and otherwise.\n\nIn order to get a clear and accurate conception of Gordon's many-sided\ncharacter, I have made myself acquainted with all these authorities on\nthe subject. There is another little book to which I am indebted--\"Letters\nfrom Khartoum,\" written by the late Frank Power, correspondent of the\n_Times_ at Khartoum during the siege. It gives a good insight into\nGordon's life in the beleaguered city. I have further had the advantage\nof hearing many anecdotes and incidents that throw a light upon the\npersonality of one who undeniably ranks amongst the great men of the\ncentury. Nevertheless I feel that to represent the religious and\nprofessional life of a man like Gordon, who was so essentially original\nand unlike other people, is a very difficult task, so I have, as far as\npossible, quoted his own words in giving expression to his views.\n\nThe play of \"Hamlet\" without its leading character could not be more\ndeficient than a sketch of the life of General Gordon without a careful\nsetting-forth of his religious views. It would be impossible to point\nto one in this nineteenth century who was a more complete living\nembodiment of the truth contained in the text, \"This is the victory\nthat overcometh the world, even our faith.\" He was a man of faith, a\nman of prayer, a devout student of the Word of God; and though he was\n_in_ the world, and took far more than his share of the ordinary duties\nof life, he was not _of_ the world. Mr. Gladstone was right when he\nsaid from his seat in the House of Commons, \"Such examples are fruitful\nin the future, and I trust that there will grow from the contemplation\nof that character and those deeds other men who in future time may\nemulate his noble and most Christian example.\" Gordon must ever remain\na mystery to those who have not got the key to his character, and my\ndesire is simply to place that key in the hands of young men, so that\nthey may study him for themselves, and may learn to turn to the same\nsource whence he derived his wisdom and his force of character.\n\nSuch noble examples are not often seen, for Christian heroes in this\nworld are all too few. It is, then, our bounden duty to take pains that\nthe example set by one who has been termed \"the youngest of the saints\"\nshall not be lost on the young men who come after him, and who have not\nhad the privilege of seeing him and knowing him while alive.\n\n    \"Lives of great men all remind us\n      We can make our lives sublime,\n    And, departing, leave behind us\n      Footprints in the sands of time.\"\n\nGoodness in the abstract we are all prepared to admire; but while we do\nthis, how often we are tempted to declare it an impossible thing to\nlive up to a high standard. God, recognising the weakness of human\nnature, sent His only-begotten Son to reveal the Father, and show us a\nlife of goodness in human form. He has further descended to our\nweakness by permitting us from time to time to see in our midst living\nexamples of how Christians can follow out the principles of Christ. The\nApostle Paul in one of his Epistles urges his readers to follow him\neven as he followed Christ. Good men have their failings, and these we\nare to avoid; but while doing so, we should aim at imitating that which\nis good and noble and Christlike in their characters. It is a great\nprivilege to be permitted to come in contact with living men of the\ntype of Gordon, but that privilege is only for the few. As the great\nmajority of our fellow-creatures are denied it, the next best thing for\nthem is to be able to read about these heroes, and thus endeavour to\ncatch their spirit. Some are inclined to sneer at biographies, and to\nsay that, speaking generally, they set forward only the good part of\nthe character of their subjects, omitting all that is faulty. To a\ncertain extent this is undoubtedly true, owing to the very nature of\nthings; but, on the other hand, it must be remembered that it is only\nthe good that we are to follow, and therefore it is useless to direct\nattention to a man's failings.\n\nThere have been few men who have attained to eminence whose inner life\ncould be closely investigated and betray so few faults as did Gordon's.\nThe late Sir Stafford Northcote (afterwards Lord Iddesleigh), leader of\nthe Conservative Opposition in the House of Commons at the time of\nGordon's death, only expressed the literal truth when he said: \"General\nGordon was a hero, and permit me to say he was still more--he was a\nhero among heroes. For there have been men who have obtained and\ndeserved the praise of heroism whose heroism was manifested on the\nfield of battle or in other conflicts, and who, when examined in the\ntenor of their personal lives, were not altogether blameless; but if\nyou take the case of this man, pursue him into privacy, investigate his\nheart and his mind, you will find that he proposed to himself not any\nideal of wealth and power, or even fame, but to do good was the object\nhe proposed to himself in his whole life, and on that one object it was\nhis one desire to spend his existence.\"\n\nBut though Gordon's inner life was so thoroughly open to investigation,\nthere was something about him that made him very human. He had his full\nshare of faults, and a quickness of temper which manifested itself\nunmistakably on occasions. He had also that kind of hasty impatience to\nwhich men are liable who are themselves quick at taking in ideas, or\nseeing how a thing should be done, when they are brought into contact\nwith others of a slower temperament. He was painfully conscious of his\nown defects, and judged them far more severely than other people would\ndo.\n\nWhat made him so really great was the happy combination of so many\nvirtues with a corresponding absence of ordinary defects. There have\nbeen Christians as earnest and devout as he; there have been soldiers\nas brave and capable; there have been men as kind-hearted; but there\nhave been few who, while combining all of these good points and many\nmore, have exhibited so complete an absence of the numerous defects\nwhich blemish the characters of most great men. The late Prebendary\nBarnes, who was very intimate with him, remarks that \"there are no\npopular illusions to be dispelled\" as one studies his inner life. Sir\nJohn Lubbock in one of his lectures says of Napoleon, that he was a man\nof genius, but not a hero. Now, while Gordon was essentially a genius,\nhe was even more essentially a hero. True heroism is inseparably\nassociated with self-sacrifice. A man may be as brave as a bulldog, yet\nbe entirely wanting in all that goes to make him a hero. The dictionary\ndefinition by no means embraces all that the word implies. Lord\nWolseley in a magazine article remarked that he had met but two heroes\nin his eventful life; one of them was that noble Christian officer\nGeneral Lee, who commanded the Southerners in the American War, and the\nother was Gordon. It was his complete forgetfulness of self, his entire\nwillingness to sink his own individuality, his own comfort, his own\nposition, his good name, that made Gordon so Christlike, and lifted him\nabove the level of his fellows. We are accustomed to read of brave men,\nof original thinkers, of great statesmen, of men of genius in different\ndepartments of life, but we seldom read of one who was so entirely free\nfrom what Milton calls the last infirmity of great men--the love of\nfame--that he was willing to be nothing that the cause he had espoused\nmight triumph. When Columbus first saw the River Orinoco, some one\nremarked to him that he must have discovered an island. His reply was,\n\"No such river as that flows from an island; that mighty torrent must\ndrain the waters of a continent;\" and his prediction proved to be\ncorrect. When we see the deep stream of true heroism flowing from the\nheart of such a man as Gordon, we instinctively feel that no mere human\nheart could produce such a torrent of good works, but that behind the\nhuman being there must be something more. It has been my object in this\nmemoir to show that the stream that went forth from Gordon's heart to\ncheer and bless all with whom he came in contact, sprang from no\nisolated fountain, but had its origin in the great ocean of Divine\nlove, which has existed in all ages, but was revealed more distinctly\non Calvary.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nThis is a material, sceptical age, when many pride themselves on their\nwant of faith, quite forgetting that to believe too little is as\nclearly an indication of mental weakness as to believe too much. God\nsuddenly raised up a man in our midst who was as strong in faith as he\nwas indifferent to the material things of this world. It was indeed his\nfaith in things eternal and unseen that made him so indifferent to\nthings temporal. Gordon might have lived and died amongst us without\nbeing known beyond a limited circle, but that his Master placed him on\nhigh so that men should be compelled to hear about his life. Sir\nWilliam Butler in his interesting book, \"The Campaign of the\nCataracts,\" does not at all exaggerate when he says:--\n\n    \"Who is this far-off figure looming so large between the rifts in\n    the dense leaguer which the Arab has drawn around Khartoum? We\n    cannot save him with all this host and all this piled-up treasure;\n    but, behold! our failure shall be his triumph; for God has raised a\n    colossal pedestal in the midst of this vast desert, and placing\n    upon it His noblest Christian knight, has lighted around the base\n    the torch of Moslem revolt, so that all men through coming time may\n    know the greatness of His soldier.\"\n\nIn spite, however, of the fact that many failed to appreciate him while\nhe was alive, we may be thankful to think that there is much good left\nin Old England yet; for when the events of his noble career were made\npublic, there was a widespread feeling of regret that we had as a\nnation failed to value adequately a man of so much true nobility.\n\nIn an interesting article in \"The Young Man,\" Mr. William T. Stead hit\noff the prominent characteristic of the hero's life when he said:\n\"General Gordon taught the world that it is possible to be good without\nbeing goody-goody. That it is possible to live like a Christ and to die\nlike a Christ for your fellow-men, without going out of the world or\nrefusing to do your own fair share of the day's work of the world, is\none of those truths which need to be revealed anew to each successive\ngeneration by the practical demonstration of an actual life.\" Gordon\nwas essentially a manly man, but with all his courage and bravery he\ncombined the tenderness of a woman. He could be \"truest friend and\nnoblest foe.\" His courage and deeds of daring would have won him that\nmuch-coveted distinction the Victoria Cross, had they been performed in\nan English campaign; yet the sufferings of a child, or even of an\nanimal, caused him the greatest grief. He had a keen sense of humour,\nand might have cultivated the mere pleasure-seeking part of his nature,\nand become socially very popular. It has been well said that \"Humanity\nwants more than this; it craves to have its best and noblest powers\ncalled into play, and exercised into action that will tend in some way\nto promote the general good.\" It is for this reason that his example is\nsuch a noble one to set before young men. Most young fellows who are\nworthy of the name of men have within them a spirit which admires all\nthat is manly, noble, and chivalrous; and for such it is a grand thing\nto have a high ideal, even if they do not attain to it. As it is true\nof men that they cannot habitually think mean thoughts without becoming\nmean, or set before themselves a low ideal without lowering themselves,\nso is it true that men cannot adopt a high ideal without instinctively\ncultivating noble and lofty aims.\n\nFrederick Robertson of Brighton once said, \"Hate hypocrisy, hate cant,\nhate intolerance, hate oppression, hate injustice, hate pharisaism,\nhate them as Christ hated them, with a deep, living, Godlike hatred.\"\nIt would be difficult to point to one who was more thoroughly\ninfluenced by the teaching conveyed in this short sentence than was\nGordon. But negative virtues of this kind were not enough for him. One\nof his most prominent characteristics was his love for that which is\ngood, and his incessant efforts to do good. His career was one long\neffort to relieve the sufferings of his fellow-creatures, to inculcate\nDivine truths, and in every way to make the world better. Few labourers\nhave been called to such a variety of work; but it was all one to him.\nHe worked for God in China when fighting to quell a civil war; he\nserved the same Master at Gravesend when he visited the sick and the\ndying, and rescued little street arabs from lives of sin; and the same\nmotives prompted him when, later on, he devoted all his energies to\nmitigating and attempting to abolish the horrors of the slave-trade. He\nis dead, but his noble example still lives.\n\n    \"Press on, press on! nor doubt, nor fear,\n    From age to age, this voice shall cheer;\n    Whate'er may die and be forgot,\n    Work done for God--it dieth not.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nEARLY LIFE AND CRIMEAN WAR\n\n\nCharles George Gordon was born on January 28, 1833, at Woolwich, so\nthat he began his life among soldiers. He was the fourth son of General\nHenry William Gordon, who was in the Royal Artillery. His father came\nfrom a good family, which for centuries had been associated with the\narmy. The old General appears to have been a good officer and a\nkind-hearted man, and doubtless the son inherited not only the\ninstincts of a soldier, but a certain nobility of character which was\nconspicuous in the father. When the father held a high command at\nCorfu, he made a point of seeking out and paying attention to the\nforlorn and uninteresting, who are usually overlooked by others. Those\nwho have been richly endowed by Nature have little difficulty in\ngaining the smiles of society; but in all classes there are a few\nunfortunate ones, who are not specially gifted and attractive, and who\nconsequently often have the cold shoulder turned towards them. It was\ncharacteristic of Charles Gordon's father, as it was of himself in\nlater years, that these were the ones he befriended and looked after.\n\nIf Charles Gordon inherited from his father the instincts of a soldier,\nthere can be little doubt that on his mother's side he inherited a\nspirit of enterprise. His mother was Elizabeth Enderby, the daughter of\nan enterprising merchant, who had ships on every sea. It is men of this\nclass, quite as much as our soldiers and sailors, who have made England\nwhat she is. Samuel Enderby was one of the best-known among the great\nmerchant-princes of England, and he it was chiefly who opened to\ncommerce the previously unknown waters of the South Pacific, after the\nexploring expeditions of Captain Cook. It is supposed that the first\nbatch of convicts sent to Botany Bay were conveyed in one of his ships,\nand, but for his whaling fleet, Australia might never have been peopled\nby English emigrants. His ships carried on a busy trade with America,\nand it was one of his fleet that carried the historic cargo of tea\nwhich was thrown into Boston harbour when the Americans severed their\nconnection with the mother country. His daughter had a large family,\nnumbering five sons and six daughters. Three only of the sons survived,\nand they all attained the rank of General in the army. One of them\nbecame General Enderby Gordon, C.B., of the Royal Artillery, who\ndistinguished himself in the Crimean War, and also in the Indian\nMutiny. Another became General Sir Henry William Gordon, already\nalluded to as the author of \"Events in the Life of Charles George\nGordon.\" Charlie Gordon, to use the name by which the subject of this\nmemoir was always known among his friends, was a delicate lad, and,\nperhaps for this reason, was the special favourite of his mother, who\nappears to have been a fond parent and a sensible woman. She was always\nproud of her boy, and once or twice even annoyed him by speaking of him\nin terms of praise to others.\n\nThe Gordon family seems to have been a very happy one, which to a great\nextent must have been the result of the mother's influence. One only\nneeds to read the published \"Letters of General Gordon to his Sister\"\nto see how passionately fond the two were of each other. It might well\nhave been Gordon that Browning had in his mind when he said--\n\n    \"I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds\n    All the world's love in its unworldliness.\"\n\nA few lines from a letter of one of his brothers, written from the\nCrimea, show the fond and almost parental care that the elder exhibited\non behalf of the younger brother. The extract is as follows:--\"Only a\nfew lines to say Charlie is all right, and has escaped amidst a\nterrific shower of grape and shells of every description. You may\nimagine the suspense I was kept in until assured of his safety.\"\n\nLike all soldiers' sons, Gordon when young had plenty of opportunities\nof moving about and seeing different parts of the world. In many ways\nthis roving life is disadvantageous to a lad, as in after years he can\nnever look back to one spot as his home, and consequently he can never\nlocalise the charming associations connected with that word. A boy also\nsuffers considerably by being moved from one school to another. On the\nother hand, his wits, as a rule, get sharpened by contact with new\npeople and new circumstances. Before Gordon was seven years old, he had\naccompanied his father on successive moves to Dublin, and to Leith\nFort. In 1840 he went to Corfu, where his father was in command of the\nRoyal Artillery. It was here the Duke of Cambridge first made his\nacquaintance, as they occupied quarters next to each other, and His\nRoyal Highness, just forty-five years afterwards, after Gordon's death,\nsaid in a speech at the Mansion House, that he remembered the little\nlad then. As Gordon returned to England with his mother at the age of\nten, the fact that the Commander-in-Chief remembered him at all is\nanother proof of the wonderful faculty of memory which the Royal Family\nare said to possess. How differently the Duke would have thought of\nthat little fair-haired boy with the blue penetrating eyes could he\nhave looked into the future! It was in 1843 that Mrs. Gordon brought\nher son to England for the sake of his education. He went to school at\nTaunton for a few years, and then to Mr. Jeffery's, Shooters Hill,\nWoolwich, preparatory to entering the Royal Military Academy. His\nfather had been given an appointment at the Arsenal at Woolwich, so\nthat his holidays, as well as much of his school life, were spent at\nthat great garrison town. There was nothing about the youth at this\ntime that indicated what his future would be. Indeed, the very energies\nwhich in after life made him undertake so much, finding no other vent,\ngave him a turn for mischief and fun of all sorts. Later in life, and\neven amid all his troubles in the Soudan, he would in his letters\nrecall with pleasure the boyish days spent at Woolwich.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nIn 1848 he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, where he\nremained till 1852, when, at the age of nineteen, he received his\ncommission in the Royal Engineers. Although he was an adept at\nsurveying and at fortification, two branches of military knowledge\nwhich served him well in after years, he was deficient in mathematics,\nand consequently did not make much progress. An event which took place\nhere might have had very serious consequences, and shows that even then\nhe had the daring nature which afterwards characterised him. For some\nreason it became necessary to restrain the cadets when leaving the\ndining-hall, the approach to which was by a narrow staircase. At the\ntop of this staircase stood the senior corporal, with outstretched\narms, facing the cadets. This was too much for one so full of fun and\nenergy and so reckless of consequences as Gordon; so, putting down his\nhead, he charged, and butting the corporal in the pit of the stomach,\nsent him flying down the staircase and through a window beyond.\nFortunately the corporal was unhurt, but Gordon was perilously near\ndismissal, and having his military career cut short. The act of\ninsubordination was, however, overlooked by the authorities, but that\nit did not subdue his spirit is evident from the fact that on another\noccasion, when told by Captain Eardley Wilmot that he would never make\nan officer, he tore the epaulets from his shoulders and threw them at\nthe feet of his superior. This officer, afterwards General Eardley\nWilmot, became one of his greatest friends. Later on, for another\noffence, in which many were concerned, and of which it is doubtful if\nGordon really was guilty, he was deprived of half a year's seniority in\nthe army. This punishment really did him a good turn, for it enabled\nhim to secure a commission in the Royal Engineers instead of the Royal\nArtillery, to which he would otherwise have been posted.\n\nOn the 23rd June 1852 Gordon was gazetted to the Engineers, and on the\n29th November 1854 he was ordered to Corfu. As the Crimean War was\ngoing on he was much disappointed at this order, and at first\nattributed it to his mother's influence, who, he thought, wanted him to\nbe sent to a safe place. Through the influence of Sir John Burgoyne, an\nold family friend, his destination was changed, and on the 4th of\nDecember, during that bitterly cold winter, he writes, \"I received my\norders for the Crimea, and was off the same day.\" This was not the only\ntime that he exhibited such promptitude in leaving his native land at\nthe call of his country. Thirty years afterwards he left England for\nthe Soudan the very day he received his orders.\n\nHe arrived in the Crimea on New Year's Day 1855, when all the\ncelebrated historical battles were over. His martial ardour had\ndoubtless been stirred by hearing how bravely our men swarmed up the\nheights at Alma, charged the Russian gunners at Balaklava, and drove\nback the sortie at Inkerman. When he arrived, the siege of Sebastopol\nhad commenced in earnest, and for some time it was an engineer's\ncampaign, in which the spade did more than the rifle, or, to speak more\ncorrectly, the musket; for very few of our men had rifles then. Disease\nand exhaustion from hardship slew far more than the bullet. Altogether,\nit was rather a trying time for a young officer full of fire and\nspirit, anxious to see service of that more dashing kind that appeals\nto the imagination. The slow advance of the trenches must have tried\nhis somewhat impatient spirit, which, even in later years, when it\nmight have been modified by time, was always more ready for a rapid\nmarch, a brilliant flank movement, or something of that kind. But\nthough the trench-work must have been wearisome and distasteful to a\ndegree, he threw himself heart and soul into it, meriting the following\npraise from Colonel Chesney, an eminent engineer officer: \"In his\nhumble position as an engineer subaltern he had attracted the notice of\nhis superiors, not merely by his energy and activity (for these are\nnot, it may be asserted, uncommon characteristics of his class), but by\nan extraordinary aptitude for war, developing itself amid the\ntrench-work before Sebastopol in a personal knowledge of the enemy's\nmovements such as no other officer attained. 'We always used to send\nhim out to find what new move the Russians were making,' was the\ntestimony given to his genius by one of the most distinguished officers\nhe served under.\" He not only exhibited the \"aptitude for war\" of which\nColonel Chesney speaks, but it appears that he also displayed on\nseveral occasions a great deal of that personal courage for which he\nafterwards became so renowned. A single incident may be taken as a\nspecimen of many. One day as he was passing along the trenches, he\noverheard a heated altercation between a sapper and a corporal, both\nbelonging to his own corps. On inquiring into the cause, he discovered\nthat the corporal had ordered a man to stand on the parapet, where he\nwas exposed to the enemy's fire, while the corporal, under cover, was\ngoing to hand him some gabions for repairing the parapet. Gordon at\nonce jumped on to the parapet himself and called the corporal to join\nhim, letting the sapper hand up the gabions from a place of safety.\nGordon remained until the work was completed, in spite of the fire of\nthe Russians, and then turning to the corporal said, \"Never order a man\nto do anything you are afraid to do yourself.\"\n\nHis warlike genius and his courage were by no means his only remarkable\ncharacteristics, and it may not be out of place to mention here a\ntrifling event, which possibly had a marked influence on his whole\nlife. It so happened that Colonel Staveley, an officer who afterwards\nattained to some eminence, but who at that time was of no great note\nbeyond being the second in command of a distinguished corps, the 44th\nRegiment, mentioned in Gordon's hearing that he had been appointed\nfield-officer of the day for the trenches for the following day, but\nowing to his having been on sick leave, was ignorant of the geography\nof the place. Now considering that Gordon was at this time greatly\noverworked in the trenches, he might well have been excused had he\nallowed Colonel Staveley's remark to pass; for it must be remembered\nthat it is no part of the duty of a young engineer officer to instruct\ninfantry field-officers in their duties. But this was not Gordon's\nstyle. He, at all events, never limited himself to a strict routine of\nmere duty, and so he cheerfully volunteered assistance, saying, \"Oh!\ncome down with me to-night after dark, and I will show you over the\ntrenches.\" Colonel Staveley says, \"He drew me out a very clear sketch\nof the lines (which I have now), and down I went accordingly. He\nexplained every nook and corner, and took me along outside our most\nadvanced trench, the bouquets and other missiles flying about us in, to\nme, a very unpleasant manner; he taking the matter remarkably coolly.\"\nNapoleon somewhere remarked that \"the smallest trifles produce the\ngreatest results,\" an expression to which Gordon himself once referred.\nThis Colonel Staveley afterwards became General Sir Charles Staveley,\nand he it was who first recommended Gordon, when quite a young captain\nin China, to take command of that army for which he did so much, and\nwith which he acquired such renown. Had it not been for Sir Charles\nStaveley, possibly Gordon would never have had the opportunity he\nneeded to show of what good stuff he was made; and who but the General\nhimself can tell how much that night adventure in the trenches had to\ndo with his selection later on?\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nAs I have taken a later opportunity to enlarge on Gordon's simple\nfaith, I will only say here that up to this period there are no\nindications that he was very decided. It appears that during the year\n1854, when stationed at Pembroke, a distinct spiritual change came over\nhim; and if we may judge from one of his letters to his sister Augusta,\nit was she who influenced him for good. But there can be no question\nthat he did not at this time enter into that full assurance of faith\nwhich afterwards characterised him; still, his faith at this period,\nthough weak, was real. In a letter home, referring to the death of a\nCaptain Craigie, who was killed by a splinter from a shell, he says, \"I\nam glad to say that he was a serious man. The shell burst above him,\nand by what is called chance struck him in the back, killing him at\nonce.\" It is interesting to note from the words \"what is called chance\"\nthat he had already learnt to recognise the hand of God in everything,\nand that even at this early stage of his career there existed the germs\nof that doctrine on which he spoke and wrote so much later on. It has\nbeen said by some that his so-called fatalistic views were imbibed from\nthe Mohammedans in the Soudan. This sentence in a letter written by him\nbefore he had ever held an intimate conversation with a Mohammedan\nshows that such was not the case. Allusion is made to the incident here\nmerely to show what the condition of faith and state of mind of Charles\nGordon were during the Crimean War. There is one other letter on\nrecord, written about this time, which is worthy of mention here. When\nthe Commander-in-chief of the Crimean army died, Gordon wrote, \"Lord\nRaglan died of tear and wear and general debility. He was universally\nregretted, as he was so kind. His life has been entirely spent in the\nservice of his country. I hope he was prepared, but do not know.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nBeyond a few deeds of personal daring, there is not much to record of\nGordon during the Crimean War. He went out, as has already been said,\nwhen the principal battles were over, and his position being quite a\nsubordinate one, he had no opportunities of distinguishing himself. He\ngained the esteem of all those who did come in contact with him; he\ntook every opportunity of gaining a professional insight into the\nscience of war; he had many narrow escapes of being wounded, and once\nhe was struck on the head by a stone thrown up by a round shot. He\nformed a high estimate of the Russians as soldiers, with a\ncorrespondingly low one of our allies the French. Writing home of a\nfavourable opportunity lost of assaulting Sebastopol, he says, \"I think\nwe might have assaulted on Monday, but the French do not seem to care\nabout it. The garrison is 25,000, and on that day we heard afterwards\nthat only 8000 were in the place, as the rest had gone to repel an\nattack (fancied) of ours at Inkerman.\"\n\nThe history of the Crimean War has been written so often, that it is\nunnecessary to occupy much space with detail, especially in view of the\nunimportant part Gordon had to play. On June 7th he accompanied the\nattacking force under Sir John Campbell, which was severely repulsed in\nthe assault upon the Great Redan. A delay of over two months took\nplace, and then the French attacked the Malakoff, and the English again\nattempted to seize the Redan. The French were successful, but we\nfailed, and so it was decided to renew the attack on the following day.\nThe Russians, however, seeing it was useless to continue the struggle,\nevacuated the post on the night of the 8th September. As Gordon was on\nduty in the trenches that night, his account of what he witnessed is\ninteresting. \"During the night of the 8th I had heard terrific\nexplosions, and going down to the trenches at 4 A.M., I saw a splendid\nsight. The whole of Sebastopol was in flames, and every now and then\nterrible explosions took place, while the rising sun shining on the\nplace had a most beautiful effect. The Russians were leaving the town\nby the bridge; all the three-deckers were sunk, the steamers alone\nremaining. Tons and tons of powder must have been blown up. About 8\nA.M. I got an order to commence a plan of the works, for which purpose\nI went to the Redan, where a dreadful sight was presented. The dead\nwere buried in the ditch--the Russians with the English--Mr. Wright\nreading the burial service over them.\"\n\nOn the fall of Sebastopol Gordon joined the force that besieged\nKinburn, and was present at the fall of that fortress in October. He\nthen returned to Sebastopol, and was engaged in destroying the defences\nof that place, remaining there till the evacuation in February 1856.\nAlthough he received no promotion at the end of the war, he was\nselected for the French Legion of Honour, a distinction given to very\nfew subalterns. Apparently, however, he had already formed to some\nextent the opinion which became more decided in later years on the\nsubject of decorations, for he said in a letter written home a month\nbefore the fall of Sebastopol, \"I for one do not care about being\n'lamented' after death. I am not ambitious, but what easily earned\nC.B.'s and Majorities there are in some cases! while men who have\nearned them, like poor Oldfield, get nothing. I am sorry for him. He\nwas always squabbling about his batteries with us, but he got more by\nhis perseverance than any man before did.\" Although Gordon was only\ntwenty-two years of age at this time, we see the germs of the\ncharacteristics which later in life marked him so prominently. He was\neven then indifferent to earthly distinctions; he had a simple faith in\nhis Saviour; he had repeatedly exhibited courage; and men of eminence\nwho came in contact with him had recognised indications of peculiar\nmilitary aptitude. Though he had had no opportunity of making a great\nname for himself at that early date, he had stood the severe test of\nhis first campaign under great hardships, and while he had not been\nfound wanting in a single respect, he had gained the professional\nrespect and esteem of all.\n\nIt is unnecessary to enlarge on the time between the Crimean War and\nthe China War. Suffice it to say briefly, that instead of being sent\nhome, Gordon had to remain as an assistant-commissioner to settle the\nfrontier line; for Russia had to give up a piece of territory that in\n1812 she had taken from the Turks. For a whole year he was engaged on\nthis task, and then, when he thought that he was to be allowed to\nreturn home, he was sent to Asia Minor to perform a similar duty, and\nwas not able to return till he had been abroad three years. He was then\ngranted leave for six months, and afterwards returned to his work in\nArmenia, where he remained till the spring of 1858, thus missing all\nchance of being employed in the Indian Mutiny, which broke out in 1857.\nOn his return to England in 1858, he went to Chatham, where he was\npromoted to the rank of captain the following year.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III\n\nCHINESE WAR AND TAIPING REBELLION\n\n\nA stout old Scotch lady when asked about her health, replied that she\nwas \"weel i' pairts, but ower muckle to be a' weel at ane time.\" If the\nold lady was too large to be perfectly well all over at the same time,\nmay it not be said that in this respect China resembled her in 1860?\nThe largest empire in the world was suffering from external as well as\ninternal troubles. A great portion of the country was given up to all\nthe horrors of civil war conducted on an enormous scale, while the\nunited armies of England and France were assaulting it from without.\n\nSpace does not permit a detailed account of the causes which led\nEngland to declare war on China. This war was but a phase in a dispute\nthat had been going on since 1837 between the two countries. In 1842,\nto our shame it must be said, by force of arms we compelled the Chinese\nto receive opium from India, and thenceforward a very sore feeling\nexisted against us. Just before the Indian Mutiny this feeling was\nawakened by a trifling event, and war was again declared, though, owing\nto the outbreak of the Mutiny, we did not press matters for a time. As\nsoon as our hands were free in India, operations in China were actively\npushed forward, the French troops joining us on account of the murder\nof some French missionaries. The war was practically a walk-over, for\nthe Chinese army was quite incapable of meeting trained forces; and a\ntreaty having been agreed upon, the representatives of the English and\nFrench returned home.\n\nIn March 1859 Mr. Frederick Bruce, brother to Lord Elgin, was sent out\nas Minister Plenipotentiary to China, and instructed to proceed to\nPekin to exchange the ratifications of the treaty. He was to be\naccompanied by Admiral Hope, the English admiral commanding in China.\nPekin lies inland about a hundred miles, being connected with the sea\nby the river Peiho, the entrance to which was commanded by the Taku\nForts. For some reason, the Chinese did not want Mr. Bruce to proceed\nto Pekin, or at all events they objected to his proceeding by the river\nroute, as he proposed. Obstacles to the progress of our ships were put\nin the way, and the Chinese refused to remove them. Mr. Bruce thereupon\ncalled upon the Admiral to take steps for their removal, and on his\nattempting to do so, the Chinese fired on the English ships with such\ntelling effect that four gunboats were placed _hors de combat_. Nor was\nthe Admiral more successful when he attempted to storm the forts. The\nresult of that day's work was that out of 1100 men in the English force\nnearly 450 were killed or wounded. The feeling in England was, that\nthough Mr. Bruce had acted very hastily in thus committing England to\nanother war without definite instructions from home, the matter could\nnot be allowed to rest. The French again joined us, and Sir Hope Grant,\nwho had distinguished himself in the Indian Mutiny, was appointed to\nthe command. This General, it may be remarked, was an earnest Christian\nno less than an eminent soldier. The Taku Forts were captured and the\ntroops were marching on Pekin, when the Chinese sought to open\nnegotiations, in order to prevent our army from entering their capital.\nOur representatives consented to enter into negotiations at Tungchow, a\nplace about a dozen miles from Pekin. Some English officers,\naccompanied by a few of the staff of the English and French envoys,\nwent forward to Tungchow, to make the necessary arrangements for the\ninterview of the envoys with the Chinese commissioners. A\nmisunderstanding arose, and twenty-six British and twelve French\nsubjects were seized, in spite of the flag of truce, and hurried off to\ndifferent prisons. Their sufferings as prisoners were frightful, the\nresult being that half of them died, while the remainder, when\nreleased, bore evident signs of the ill-treatment they had undergone.\nThe allied armies at once marched on Pekin, and Lord Elgin refused to\ntreat with the Chinese till the prisoners were restored, which did not\ntake place till the gates of the city were about to be blown in. The\nChinese were compelled to pay L10,000 for each European and L500 for\neach native soldier captured, in addition to having their famous Summer\nPalace, valued by some at the almost fabulous sum of L4,000,000,\ndestroyed.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nGordon at this time was adjutant of engineers at Chatham, a post a good\ndeal esteemed by officers of his rank. He had lost the opportunity of\nseeing active service in India, but he was determined that it should be\nno fault of his if he were not sent out to China. He resigned his\nappointment at Chatham, an act which greatly annoyed his father and\nmany of his friends. Even a high official in the War Office considered\nthat he was damaging his prospects for life; whereas it turned out that\nby going to China he got that opportunity of exercising his talents and\ndisplaying his abilities which he might otherwise never have met with.\nNot leaving England till the 22nd of July 1860, he was too late to take\npart in the principal action, the taking of the Taku Forts, which were\nassaulted on the 21st August. He writes to his mother from Hong-Kong,\n\"I am rather late for the amusement, which will not vex you.\" He\narrived at Tientsin on September 26th, and marched with Sir Hope\nGrant's force to Pekin. The following is his description of the only\npart he was allowed to take before the Chinese surrendered:--\n\n    \"We were sent down in a great hurry to throw up works and batteries\n    against the town, as the Chinese refused to give up the gate we\n    required them to surrender before we would treat with them. The\n    Chinese were given until noon on October 13 to give up the Anting\n    gate. We made a lot of batteries, and everything was ready for the\n    assault of the wall, which is battlemented and forty feet high, but\n    of inferior masonry. At 11.30 P.M. on the 12th, however, the gate\n    was opened, and we took possession; so our work was of no avail.\"\n\nThe English and French armies left Pekin on November 8th, a little over\nthree weeks after the fall of the city, and returned to Tientsin, to\ntake up their quarters for the ensuing cold weather. Captain Gordon was\nthe senior engineer officer left behind, and he remained till the\nspring of 1862, performing the ordinary engineer duties of providing\naccommodation for men and horses. During his stay at Tientsin there is\nlittle of any interest to record. He wisely relieved the monotony of\ncamp life by making a journey to the Great Wall of China, which has\nbeen visited by very few of our countrymen. He was doubtless prompted\nby curiosity to undertake this expedition, but other motives were also\nat work. He was a born soldier, he was good at surveying, and doubtless\nhe was anxious to ascertain by personal observation if any other route\nexisted than the well-known one by which a Russian army could march on\nPekin; but he was unsuccessful in finding one. During the journey the\ncold was very severe; in one place, he says, \"the raw eggs were frozen\nhard as if they had been boiled.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nIt has been already mentioned that China was troubled by an extensive\ncivil war, which had been going on for many years. It appears to have\ncommenced in the province of Quang-Tung, and to have been headed by a\nschoolmaster, Hung-tsue-schuen. That there must have been good cause\nfor the dissatisfaction which caused the outbreak is clear from the\nfact that not only did thousands join the rising, but that among the\nrebels were men of great ability. The leader seems to have been a\nstrange mixture of good and evil, and at one time appears to have had\nan inclination towards Christianity. Unfortunately the evil part of his\nnature predominated, and his head was turned by his success. During the\ntime the Chinese troops were engaged in war with the English, the\nrebels had it pretty well their own way, and large tracts of the\ncountry were devastated. Intoxicated with success, the rebels\nthreatened to attack Shanghai, and the merchants there, seeing how\nincapable the Government was to protect them, subscribed to form a\nsmall army to protect their interests. The command of this force was\ngiven to an American named Ward, who appears to have been a born\nsoldier. His career was short, but he was engaged in seventy actions\nand never lost one. So successful was he, that the Pekin authorities\nconferred on his troops the pretentious title of \"Ever-Victorious\nArmy.\" Unfortunately for that army, it soon lost its able commander,\nfor in September 1862 he was killed when assaulting a city near Ningpo.\nHe was succeeded by an American adventurer named Burgevine, who turned\nout a complete failure, being one of that type of unprincipled men who\ndo so much harm in non-Christian countries. When he was dismissed,\napplication was made to the English General to appoint an English\nofficer to take command. Major Gordon had been ordered to Shanghai from\nPekin at the beginning of May 1862, and consequently had come under the\ncommand of General Staveley, with whom, it will be remembered, he was\nacquainted in the Crimea. General Staveley's duty was to clear the\ncountry for thirty miles round Shanghai of the rebels, and in the\nperformance of this task Major Gordon had been employed. The opinion\nthat General Staveley had formed of Gordon's courage and ability in the\nCrimea was confirmed in the operations around Shanghai, and the\nfollowing account is given by that General of Gordon's plucky\nconduct:--\n\n    \"Captain Gordon was of the greatest use to me when the task of\n    clearing the rebels from out of the country within a radius of\n    thirty miles from Shanghai had to be undertaken. He reconnoitred\n    the enemy's defences, and arranged for the ladder-parties to cross\n    the moats, and for the escalading of the works; for we had to\n    attack and carry by storm several towns fortified with high walls\n    and deep wet ditches. He was, however, at the same time a source of\n    much anxiety to me from the daring manner in which he approached\n    the enemy's works to acquire information. Previous to our attack\n    upon Singpo, and when with me in a boat reconnoitring the place, he\n    begged to be allowed to land, in order better to see the nature of\n    the defences. Presently, to my dismay, I saw him gradually going\n    nearer and nearer, by rushes from cover to cover, until he got\n    behind a small outlying pagoda within a hundred yards of the wall,\n    and here he was quietly making a sketch and taking notes. I, in the\n    meantime, was shouting myself hoarse in trying to get him back; for\n    not only were the rebels firing at him from the walls, but I saw a\n    party stealing round to cut him off.\"\n\nThere is not much more of interest to record of Gordon's doings at this\nperiod. The rebels having been cleared out of the thirty-miles radius,\nGordon was deputed to commence a complete survey of the whole district,\nand in December we find him so engaged. This occupation gave him a\nthorough insight into the ways of the people and the nature of the\ncountry. In this month he writes as follows:--\n\n    \"The people on the confines are suffering greatly and dying of\n    starvation. This state of affairs is most sad, and the rebellion\n    ought to be put down. Words cannot express the horrors these people\n    suffer from the rebels, or the utter desert they have made of this\n    rich province. It is all very well to talk of non-intervention, and\n    I am not particularly sensitive, nor are our soldiers generally so;\n    but certainly we are all impressed with the utter misery and\n    wretchedness of these poor people.\"\n\nWhen General Staveley was applied to for an officer to take command of\nthe so-called Ever-Victorious Army, his thoughts not unnaturally turned\nto Gordon, who, by the way, had received the brevet rank of major at\nthe end of 1862. Gordon, having seen the failings and shortcomings of\nour generals in the Crimea, longed for an opportunity to exercise the\ngifts of which he felt conscious. General Staveley, however, shrank\nfrom recommending him for such a dangerous post. He knew well the\nplucky, chivalrous nature of the young engineer, and not unnaturally\nfeared that he would expose himself too much to danger. His affection\nfor Major Gordon made him at first refuse to recommend him for the\ncommand, and it was not till Gordon repeatedly urged him to yield, and\npromised not to expose himself more than necessary, that he consented\nto submit his name to the authorities at home. A temporary commander\nbeing urgently required, he appointed the chief of his staff, Captain\nHolland, of the Royal Marines, to the post, pending the decision of the\nWar Office with regard to Gordon. Before the reply arrived from England\ntwo expeditions took place, one against Fushan, under Major Brennan,\nand one against the city of Taitsan, in which Captain Holland commanded\nin person. Both were disastrous to the reputation of the\nEver-Victorious Army. In the attack on Taitsan some 7500 men were\nengaged, about one-third belonging to the Ever-Victorious Army, while\nthe remainder were Chinese Imperial troops. Unfortunately, Captain\nHolland took it for granted that the Mandarins were correct when they\ninformed him that the moat around the city contained no water, whereas\nit proved to be at least thirty feet deep. This was not discovered till\nthe assaulting party arrived without bridges, and with nothing but\nescalading ladders, which they attempted to use as bridges. The ladders\nwere of course not strong enough to bear the weight of the men, and\nbroke down. The assault was very soon turned into a rout, and the\n\"Ever-Victorious Army\" not only lost several hundred men, but allowed\ntwo guns to fall into the hands of the enemy.\n\nSuch a disaster clearly indicated that an abler man was required at the\nhead of the Ever-Victorious Army, and forthwith Major Gordon was\nappointed. A letter written home at the time shows that he was\nconscious that his father would not be pleased at the step he had\ntaken:--\n\n    \"I am afraid that you will be much vexed at my having taken the\n    command of the Sung-kiang force, and that I am now a Mandarin. I\n    have taken the step on consideration. I think that any one who\n    contributes to putting down this rebellion fulfils a humane task,\n    and I also think tends a great deal to open China to civilisation.\n    I will not act rashly, and I trust to be able soon to return to\n    England; at the same time, I will remember your and my father's\n    wishes, and endeavour to remain as short a time as possible. I can\n    say that if I had not accepted the command, I believe the force\n    would have broken up, and the rebellion gone on in its misery for\n    years. I trust this will not now be the case, and that I may soon\n    be able to comfort you on the subject. You must not fret over the\n    matter. I think I am doing a good service.... I keep your likeness\n    before me, and can assure you and my father that I will not be\n    rash, and that as soon as I can conveniently, and with due regard\n    to the object I have in view, I will return home.\"\n\nGordon's father has been much misrepresented by some biographers. It\nhas been practically said that he was not able to appreciate his son's\nnobility of character; but there is not a word of truth in this. The\nold man saw that the post accepted by his son was one of great danger,\nmade all the more dangerous by that son's daring, and the fact that he\ndid not understand the language of the people and was not cognisant of\ntheir manner of conducting warfare. He also was of opinion that the\nChinese Government ought to be able to deal with their own internal\naffairs, and put down any rebellions that might occur without making a\ncat's-paw of his son. One cannot blame the father, who only looked at\nthe matter in a natural way, judging the circumstances from his own\nstandpoint. It is impossible to consider the whole facts, and to read\nthe letters concerning them, without feeling that neither father nor\nson had anything of which to be ashamed.\n\nOne of the most painful things in life is for a man who is fond of his\nparents to have to take a step which he feels will not meet with their\napproval, and we may be quite sure that Major Gordon gave this subject\nhis earnest and prayerful consideration. The path of duty seemed to him\nto be clear, and the call was distinct. The whole country was\npractically deluged in blood, and not only strong men, but hapless\nwomen and children, were suffering. Could Gordon, knowing what he did,\nand feeling conscious of his power to put down the rebellion, have\ndeclined to enter the path so unexpectedly opened to him? Some would\nhave done so. But opportunities such as this, not seized, are seldom\nrepeated. His ability, his energies, and his powers might never have\nfound full scope, and might have proved a curse to him rather than a\nblessing. How often one sees in life men with marked ability who are\nnot only unhappy themselves, but make every one around them equally so.\nThey seem to have missed the object for which they were created, and\ninstead of doing their duty in a large sphere, as they might have done,\ntheir stunted energies prevent them from properly filling even a\nsmaller and humbler sphere. They have missed the opportunity of being\nreally great, and yet their abilities prevent them from being satisfied\nwith anything short of this. The call came to Gordon to take his share\nin the battle of life, and to do his best to mitigate the sufferings\ncaused by a horrible civil war, and doubtless he pondered those words,\n\"He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.\" He\ndecided to take the path which appeared to him the one of duty; nor\nneed we be surprised when we know that he was a thorough Englishman of\nthe highest type, of whom the words are true--\n\n    \"There's a heart that leaps with burning glow\n      The wronged and the weak to defend;\n    It strikes as soon for a trampled foe\n      As it does for a soul-bound friend.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nGORDON'S FIRST COMMAND\n\n\nAt the age of thirty, Major Gordon obtained his first independent\ncommand, thus surpassing the Duke of Wellington's achievement by four\nyears. With Wellington, too, able as he showed himself to be, it must\nbe borne in mind that his first appointment was due to family interest,\nfor his eldest brother, Lord Mornington, was Viceroy of India at the\ntime. In Gordon's case, however, personal merit was the only\nqualification that brought him to the notice of the General in command,\nand it speaks volumes for Sir Charles Staveley's insight into character\nthat such a wise appointment was made. Sir William Butler in his\nbiography of Gordon says, \"Thus on March 24, 1863, Gordon stepped out\nfor the first time from that inevitable environment of the mass which\nso often keeps entangled in its folds men on whom Nature has conferred\ngreat gifts. Fate, it is said, knocks once at every man's door, but\nsometimes it is when the shadows are gathering and the fire is\nbeginning to burn slow.\" This was not the case with Gordon, for he was\nat about the age at which such famous soldiers as Alexander,\nWellington, and Napoleon have shown that man is full of life and fire.\nMany of the brilliant successes attained by those men would never have\nbeen won had they not had opportunities of making their first attempts\ntill mature years had sobered them down. Nothing gives a man so much\nconfidence in his own resources as success, more especially if that\nsuccess has been gained amidst trying circumstances.\n\nThere can be no doubt that the period which we are now considering is\nthe most interesting of Gordon's life. Up to this time, he had done\nwell all that he had been called upon to perform in the way of duty,\nbut had had no opportunity to show of what stuff he was made. A\nsubordinate may suggest, and a superior may reap the benefit of his\nbrains, if he has only sufficient intelligence of his own to recognise\nmerit in others, a quality of which many are deficient. But a\nsubordinate cannot initiate. And his suggestions, when adopted by a\nsuperior, frequently fail, for the simple reason that only a portion of\nhis ideas are grasped, and something is lacking. Gordon's new position\ngave him not only the opportunity to initiate, but the power to carry\nout his ideas. After the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, every\none who had the power to recognise greatness at all knew that Gordon\nhad qualities that would make him succeed in anything he liked to take\nup, and therefore it was no matter of surprise to see him adding\nlaurels to his crown.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nHitherto I have refrained from making any allusion to Gordon's personal\nappearance, having reserved the point till this period of his history,\nwhen, for the first time, he takes a prominent part on the stage of\nlife. There have been numerous pictures sold representing him, and\nperhaps still more numerous descriptions written. The best that I have\nseen are accounts written by two intimate friends. Sir Gerald Graham,\nwho knew him as a cadet at Woolwich, and was one of the last Englishmen\never to see him, says:--\n\n    \"Not over five feet nine inches in height, but of compact build,\n    his figure and gait characteristically expressed resolution and\n    strength. His face, though in itself unpretending, was one that, in\n    common phrase, 'Grew upon you.' Time had now streaked with grey the\n    crisp, curly, brown hair of his youth, and traced lines of care on\n    his ample forehead and strong clear face, bronzed with exposure to\n    the tropical sun. His usual aspect was serene and quiet, and though\n    at times a ruffling wave of constitutional impatience or\n    indignation might pass over him, it did not disturb him long. The\n    depth and largeness of Gordon's nature, which inspired so much\n    confidence in others, seemed to afford him a sense of inner repose,\n    so that outer disturbance was to him like the wind that ruffles the\n    surface of the sea, but does not affect its depth. The grace and\n    beauty of Gordon's whole expression came from within, and, as it\n    were, irradiated the man, the steadfast truthful gaze of the\n    blue-grey eyes seeming a direct appeal from the upright spirit\n    within. His usual manner charmed by its simple unaffected courtesy;\n    but though utterly devoid of self-importance, he had plenty of\n    quiet dignity, or even imperious authority, at command when\n    required.\"\n\nColonel H. G. Prout, an American officer, who served under Gordon in\nthe Soudan, writing in _Scribner's Magazine_, says:--\n\n    \"He was rather under than over medium height, of well-proportioned\n    figure, by no means heavy, but muscular and vigorous in all his\n    movements. His hair was brown, and curled rather closely. His\n    complexion was ruddy. He wore a short moustache and small whiskers,\n    and shaved as carefully when he was in the heart of Africa as when\n    he was in London. His mouth was resolute, but full of humour. His\n    smile was quick, and his whole expression was kind, bright, and\n    ready, but absolutely self-reliant. Only a dull person could fail\n    to see that here was a man who had nothing to ask or to fear. His\n    most striking feature was his eyes. These were bright blue, and the\n    blue and white were of that pure unclouded quality that one sees\n    only in the eyes of a baby. Only a baby's eyes could be so direct\n    and sincere. You felt that they looked right into your soul and\n    laid bare your motives.\"\n\nBoth these descriptions speak of him as seen in the Soudan, but they\nare so graphic, that it requires little imagination to see the man\nbefore us a few years younger. At the age of thirty, he was of course\nmuch younger looking; but his general appearance was not one that\nchanged much. Considering the hardships through which he passed, it was\nwonderful how little he exhibited their effects. It will be remarked\nthat in both of the foregoing descriptions reference is made to his\nblue eyes, which certainly were a very prominent feature in his\npersonality. If we may anticipate events a little, as we are\nconsidering this subject, it is interesting to record that a little\nnative boy named Capsune, whom General Gordon rescued from the\nslave-dealers in 1870, asked the lady who had charge of him after\nGordon's death whether she was quite sure that Gordon Pasha still kept\nhis blue eyes, and did she think he could \"see all through me now?\"\nAnother day he said he was \"quite sure Gordon Pasha could see quite\nwell in the dark, because he had the light inside him.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nThis, then, is the man whom the fortunes of war called to fill about as\ndifficult a position as it is possible to imagine. The enemy he was to\ndisperse were flushed with victory, having for years been able to defy\nall who had attempted to suppress them. Their numbers were overwhelming\nas compared with the handful of men the merchants of Shanghai were able\nout of their private resources to put into the field; and, as if these\nwere not sufficient advantages, they had possession of all the large\ncities and places of importance for many miles outside the thirty-miles\nradius around Shanghai. The army Gordon was called upon to command\npossessed a high-sounding name, justly earned by a former commander,\nbut with his death had passed away all that made the title justifiable.\nIt was a relic of greatness that had departed, and to one like Gordon,\nwho had a keen sense of humour, it must have sounded ridiculous in the\nextreme. The army consisted of about 3000 Chinese, with 150 officers,\nthe latter being principally foreigners. The officers were by no means\nwanting in pluck, nor deficient in military skill, but there appears to\nhave been a great want of discipline among them, to say nothing of the\nexistence of keen jealousies of one another. The fact that in one month\neleven officers died of _delirium tremens_ speaks volumes as to their\ncharacter. Colonel Chesney says, \"Among them were avowed sympathisers\nwith the rebels, and avowed defiers of Chinese law; but all classes\nsoon learnt to respect a General in whose kindness, valour, skill, and\njustice they found cause unhesitatingly to confide; who never spared\nhimself personal exposure when danger was near; and beneath whose firm\ntouch sank into significance the furious quarrels and personal\njealousies which had hitherto marred the usefulness of the force.\"\n\nThe headquarters of this little army was a place called Sung-kiang, to\nthe west of Shanghai, and close to the border of the thirty-miles\nradius around that city. Gordon proceeded on the 24th March 1863 to\nassume his command, and it was thought by many that he would endeavour\nto take the city of Taitsan, and thus wipe out the reproach of his\npredecessor. But his military instinct showed him a far more important\nstep to take. About twenty miles inland and fifty miles from Gordon's\nheadquarters was a city called Chanzu, which was the only one in that\nneighbourhood loyal to the Imperial cause. It had been held by the\nTaipings, but the chief had persuaded his men to abandon the cause of\nthe rebels and throw in their lot with the Emperor. No sooner had their\ndecision been taken, than the Taiping General marched a strong army on\nthe city to punish them. The defenders were holding out bravely, but\nthey were reduced to starvation, and were suffering terribly. It would\nhave been both impolitic and cruel to have left this city to its fate;\nso Gordon determined to relieve it. Chanzu was, however, cut off from\nthe sea by an intervening city called Fushan, which commanded the\nriver; so Gordon decided that, with the object of relieving the Chanzu\ngarrison, Fushan must be captured. As has already been mentioned, one\nexpedition against this place had signally failed. Gordon took two\nsteamers, packed 1000 men into them, 200 of whom were artillerymen, and\nwith this small force proceeded to attack Fushan. In spite of the\noverwhelming numbers against him, the enemy being able to draw\nreinforcements from the army investing Chanzu, he captured the place.\nNo sooner had it fallen than Gordon set to work to relieve Chanzu. This\nhe had very little difficulty in doing, for as soon as the rebels found\nthat they were between two armies and exposed to attack in opposite\ndirections, they moved off.\n\nThis brilliant achievement accomplished, Gordon retired to his\nheadquarters at Sung-kiang. By Imperial decree he was made a Tsung-Ping\nor Brigadier-General. He had passed through his first ordeal, and had\ncome out of it with credit. He had not only struck a blow, but had done\nit with such promptitude, that every one began to get confidence in\nthis young \"General,\" as he was hereafter termed by the Chinese. To\ntake a handful of men, not stronger than a full-sized English regiment\nat that time, to transport them in one day fifty miles, and to capture\na city with overwhelming odds against him, exhibited capacity combined\nwith promptness of action equal to anything recorded in the annals of\nthe greatest soldiers. His predecessor, with an army numbering\n7500--for he had a large force of Imperial troops in addition to his\nown--had been terribly beaten in his attempt to take Taitsan. But\nGordon with a force of only 1000 men had captured one city and relieved\nanother, at a much greater distance from headquarters, and that with\nthe loss of only two killed and six wounded. In the account of the\nattack, no light is thrown on the question why Gordon succeeded so\nbrilliantly when others failed. He simply pounded away with his\nartillery, which was not strong, for three hours, and having effected a\nbreach, he ordered an assault of infantry, which swept everything\nbefore it. This in itself is such a simple operation, and so much like\nwhat had been done before, that it does not account for his success. As\nthe question will doubtless often occur to the reader, why Gordon so\noften succeeded where others failed, it may be well to quote a few\nwords written by Colonel Prout, dealing with this very subject:--\n\n    \"Gordon took and kept his unquestioned place as a chief, not by\n    force of gold lace, banners, and salutes of trumpets and guns, but\n    _by doing things_. He filled Carlyle's definition, _King_,\n    _Koenning_, which means _Can_-ing, Able-man. All who are at all\n    familiar with his character and deeds must recognise the fact that\n    he was a man of great qualities, both of mind and character. He did\n    not do things accidentally or by mysterious means. Whatever\n    business he had in hand, he knew it thoroughly in all its details.\n    He knew his men and their motives, and he grasped all the minutiae\n    of his material. He was a highly educated modern soldier, and from\n    the principles of grand strategy down to mending a gun-lock or\n    loading a cartridge he knew his profession. He was not a great\n    student of books, but his quick and strong mind seized and held\n    facts with wonderful power. His most remarkable intellectual\n    quality was directness.\"\n\nThis paragraph from a magazine article throws light on the cause of\nmuch of Gordon's success. Lord Beaconsfield used to say that genius was\nthe art of taking pains. It will be remembered that the principal\nreason why Gordon's predecessor failed at Taitsan was, that he took it\nfor granted that he was rightly informed when he was told that the\nditch around the city was dry, and consequently he came unprovided with\nbridges. Gordon, on the other hand, took nothing for granted. Every\ndetail was personally looked into, every difficulty anticipated by his\neager restless brain. Consequently everything he took in hand\nsucceeded; and yet to the superficial observer it all seemed so simple.\nThe power of anticipating and providing against difficulties is one of\nthose gifts which go a long way towards ensuring success in any calling\nin life, and that gift Gordon possessed to a remarkable degree. Whether\nit was innate, or whether it was cultivated, is difficult to say.\nPossibly it was implanted by nature to a certain extent, and in\naddition he cultivated and developed the natural gift.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nA brief allusion has already been made to Burgevine, the American who\nfor a short time commanded the Ever-Victorious Army after the death of\nWard. This man plays a somewhat important part in connection with\nGordon's operations, so it may be well here to give an account of his\nhistory, for just at this time an order arrived from Pekin that he was\nto be reinstated in his command, if the Governor of the province\napproved. The career of Burgevine is, it is to be feared, an\nillustration of the lives of many adventurers who, having failed in\nsome civilised country, go out to seek their fortunes among a\nnon-Christian people, and bring disgrace upon Christianity. Without\nprinciple, destitute of all honourable feelings, they imbibe all that\nis low and bad in the countries to which they go, yet all the time they\nare called Christians, and looked upon as such by the natives. In\nalmost every large city belonging to a non-Christian people will be\nfound one or more of this type, to whom the lines might with truth be\napplied--\n\n    \"Hast thou with Asiatic vices filled thy mind,\n    And left their virtues and thine own behind?\"\n\nBurgevine was by no means deficient in military skill or courage, but\nhe was utterly unprincipled, and, as the sequel will show, he was as\nready to sell himself to the enemy as he was to fight for the\nImperialists. The immediate cause of his dismissal from the command of\nthe Ever-Victorious Army was that he went to the Chinese treasury\nofficer with a hundred men of his bodyguard and demanded money for\narrears of pay. That official being unable to comply, Burgevine struck\nhim and ordered his followers to seize 40,000 dollars. No sooner was he\ndismissed, than he went to Pekin to plead his cause there, and got the\nAmerican ambassador to back him up, the latter of course being ignorant\nof his real character. The authorities at Pekin yielded, and sent him\nback to Shanghai to assume command, provided the local Governor had no\nobjection. A shrewd suspicion exists that this was but a diplomatic way\nof getting out of a difficulty, as the authorities at Pekin must have\nknown that the Governor could not possibly consent to receive Burgevine\nback after what he had done. This Governor was Li Hung Chang, a man of\nconsiderable power, who could see that he had in Gordon a man of\nability; and though he did not at that time appreciate him as he\nafterwards did, still the fascination of Gordon's character, that so\nendeared him to many others, had already begun to work. Consequently\nthe Governor strongly opposed the return of Burgevine, and at the same\ntime took the opportunity of informing the Pekin authorities that\nGordon was gaining the confidence of his men, as well as of the\nmerchants and others at Shanghai. This for a time closed Burgevine's\ncareer, though we shall hear of him again.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nThe city of Chanzu was relieved on April 5th, but it was not till the\nend of that month that Gordon again took the field. His brief but\nbrilliant campaign had shown the weak points in his force; so he spent\nsome three weeks at headquarters in getting his little army better in\nhand. Among other things, he put his men into a uniform of dark serge\nwith green turbans, so as to make the enemy suppose that they were\nEuropeans. At first this little reform was very unpopular, as most\nreforms are, and the men were called by their countrymen \"Imitation\nForeign Devils.\" When the Ever-Victorious Army regained its right to\nits title, the men became proud of their uniform, and would not have\nexchanged it for their old costume. Dr. Wilson in his interesting\naccount of this period tells us that Woo, the Tautai of Shanghai, even\nwent so far as to purchase thousands of boots of European make, such as\nwere worn by Gordon's men, that their footprints might be seen about,\nas the rebels were so impressed with fear of the disciplined Chinese\ntroops! Not only uniform, but every other detail necessary to the\nimprovement of the army, was during that short space of time gone into,\nand on April 29th Gordon once more commenced active operations.\n\nThis time the object of attack was the city of Quinsan, about thirty\nmiles to the north-west of his camp; but, when _en route_, he heard\nthat his Imperialist allies, who were besieging the city of Taitsan,\nhad been most treacherously treated. The rebels had proposed to\nsurrender, and had permitted upwards of 1500 men of the Imperial army\nto enter their city. Suddenly they closed the gates and captured these\nmen, beheading some 300 of them, including the brother of Li Hung\nChang. This disaster to his allies decided Gordon to turn aside and\nlend his aid in reducing Taitsan, the city where his predecessor had\nsuffered such a terrible defeat. It must have been an anxious time when\nhe led his small army against a place which would remind them so\nforcibly of the greatest disaster they had experienced.\n\nThe city of Taitsan had a garrison of some 10,000 men, with a\nconsiderable sprinkling of white men, some of whom were deserters from\nthe English and French armies, together with American sailors and\nothers. Gordon's army consisted of only 3000 men; so that not only had\nhis opponents the benefit of walls, from behind which they might\ndeliver their fire, but they outnumbered his little force by more than\nthree to one. Taitsan was, however, a great prize to be aimed at, for\nits fall would blot out the remembrance of the disaster which had\noccurred when it was last attacked. Captain Holland on that occasion\nhad assaulted it from the south. Gordon's quick military eye showed him\nthat he ought to seize the canal leading into the town on the western\nside. He had little difficulty in possessing himself of this water-way,\nand he made use of it to bring his guns and ammunition to within 600\nyards of the walls. At that distance he opened fire, under cover of\nwhich he pushed forward some of his guns to within 100 yards,\nconcentrating all his fire on one spot, with the object of effecting a\nbreach in the walls. At each discharge of his guns at this short range\nmasses of masonry fell, forming a gradual slope, up which the\nassaulting party could rush. Steamers and boats came up the canal and\nturned into the moat, forming a perfect bridge across the water. The\ndefenders, seeing their danger, wisely concentrated their fire on the\ntemporary bridge, and rushed to defend the breach. Captain Bannen, who\nled the attack, was killed, and the assaulting party were for a time\ndriven back. Another column was formed for the assault, and this time\nGordon kept up an incessant artillery fire over the heads of his own\nmen as they advanced. Again they met with a determined resistance, but\nafter a severe hand-to-hand struggle, the attack was victorious, and\nthe defenders, seized with panic, actually trampled down many of their\nown side in their haste to escape.\n\nThus on May 1, 1863, fell this important stronghold; but the victory\ncost Gordon dearly, as his killed and wounded were very numerous for\nsuch a small force. The vacancies, however, were filled up by\nvolunteers from among the prisoners he took, and these men made\nadmirable fighting soldiers, though they had of course somewhat lax\nnotions on the subject of discipline. Although Gordon received little\nor no help from the Imperial troops, they caused him a good deal of\npain and annoyance by an act committed on the fall of Taitsan.\nCapturing seven retreating rebels, the Imperial troops tied them up,\nand, according to their own horribly cruel custom, forced arrows into\ntheir flesh, flayed bits of skin off their arms, and thus exposed them\nfor several hours previous to execution. This was supposed to be in\nrevenge for the treachery of the Taipings, already alluded to, and they\ncontended that these seven men were specially to blame. Be that as it\nmay, a very natural sense of indignation was awakened throughout the\ncivilised world, and questions were asked in Parliament about the\nincident, it being assumed that Gordon and other British officers were\nconcerned in these atrocities. As Gordon, in spite of his bravery and\nhis being habitually brought into the presence of bloodshed, was one of\nthe most tender-hearted of men, it need hardly be said that he was\ndeeply grieved and pained by the whole circumstance, and it was through\nhis influence that General Brown, then in command of the British troops\nat Shanghai, informed the Chinese Governor that, on a repetition of\nsuch barbarity, all the British officers would be withdrawn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nPROGRESS OF THE REBELLION\n\n\nBefore Gordon captured Taitsan, it will be remembered, he was on his\nway to attack the city of Quinsan. Having accomplished his purpose of\nassisting his allies, the Imperial troops, he reverted to his original\nobject. He wanted to leave Taitsan to be held by the Imperialists, and\nat once to march on Quinsan; but owing to the want of discipline in his\narmy, he was unable to do this. His men had taken a large amount of\nloot from Taitsan, and were anxious to dispose of it, and their young\nGeneral, much against his will, had to accept the inevitable. With an\narmy such as that which Gordon had under his control, it does not do to\ndraw tight the reins of discipline too suddenly. It had for a long time\nbeen in a lax condition, and Gordon saw that he must gain the men's\nconfidence before sharply asserting his authority. With an army well in\nhand, the right thing would have been to follow up his victories\nimmediately, so that the enemy should not have time to recover\nthemselves. But instead of being able to go on at once from Taitsan to\nQuinsan, he had to return to headquarters, and there wait till the end\nof May, reorganising and making preparations. So bad was the discipline\namong his officers, that just before he started for Quinsan, all the\nmajors commanding regiments resigned, simply because he promoted his\ncommissary-general, an English officer named Cooksby, to the rank of\ncolonel. This step was taken because Gordon found that disputes were\nalways occurring about rations and quarters between the\ncommissary-general and the regimental commanders. As the latter had,\nand the former had not, military rank, the commissary was in an awkward\nposition. Gordon therefore decided that, the commissary being one of\nhis most important staff officers, he ought not only to have military\nrank, but that his rank should be of a superior kind. It is worthy of\nnote that in this respect Gordon was just twenty years ahead of the War\nOffice authorities, for it was not till the year 1884 that commissariat\nofficers in the English army were accorded military rank. The amusing\npart of the outbreak of insubordination amongst Gordon's majors was,\nthat though they resigned their commissions, they asked that they might\nbe allowed for the sake of loot to accompany the expedition to Quinsan.\nGordon accepted the resignations, but declined to let the majors take\npart in his expedition. But he had to yield this point; for on the\nfollowing day, when the \"fall in\" sounded, the men supported their\ncommanding officers, and refused to obey. The majors, however, seeing\nthat there was only one General, and that he might be killed, in which\nevent the command would probably devolve on one of themselves, thought\nbetter of the matter, and fell in with their men as usual. The only\nwonder is that, with such an army and such disorganised material, the\nyoung commander should have been able to accomplish so much against\noverwhelming numbers.\n\nWhen Gordon reached Quinsan, he found the Imperial troops under\nGovernor Li and General Ching in a most unfortunate position. They were\nsupposed to be besieging the city, but the enemy were practically\nbesieging them. Gordon quickly drove off the enemy that were seeking to\nencompass the Imperialists, and then he found that General Ching was\nanxious to attack the eastern gate of the city, a proceeding that did\nnot at all commend itself to him. He saw at a glance that the western\ngate would probably be the better one to attack, as the enemy would be\nless prepared there. Quinsan was an important place, and was strongly\ndefended; it was held by at least 15,000 men, and the moat round the\nfortification was forty feet wide. Before coming to a definite\ndecision, Gordon made a reconnaissance in a steamer, taking the\nGovernor and General Ching with him. Being convinced by personal\nobservation that he was right in the step he intended to take, he\ninformed the Chinese General to that effect, and in a letter written\nsome little time after the event he says, \"General Ching was as sulky\nas a bear when he was informed that I thought it advisable to take\nthese stockades the next day, and to attack on this side of the city.\"\n\nAt dawn on the 30th May, having surrounded the city with his own and\nthe Imperialist troops, he took a small force by water to a point on\nthe main line of communication between Quinsan and Soo-chow, only\ndefended by a weak stockade, which was easily taken. Gordon then took\nthe celebrated little steamer the _Hyson_, and went towards Soo-chow.\nMeeting a large force of the enemy on the way to reinforce Quinsan, he\nopened fire upon them. Little anticipating an attack in this direction,\nthey got into confusion and fled, the steamer following them. Having\ninflicted heavy loss on the retreating army and steamed right up to\nSoo-chow, he turned round and went at full speed till he got back to\nChunye, where he had that morning left a small detachment of riflemen.\nIt was 10.30 P.M. and a rather dark night. His intention was to wait\ntill the next morning and renew the conflict by attacking the city. But\nthe rebels within the walls had been seized with panic, and knowing\nthat the city was invested on three sides, they made a rush for\nSoo-chow. In doing so they met Gordon's steamer returning. Again she\nopened fire and blew her whistle, the sound of the latter doing much\ndamage by adding to the noise and increasing the panic among the\nrebels. The men were in dense masses, and each shell mowed them down in\nlarge numbers. Gordon says, \"The mass wavered, yelled and turned back.\"\nThe city had fallen, and by 4 A.M. on May 31st everything was quiet,\nand it was reckoned that from three to four thousand of the enemy must\nhave been killed, drowned, or taken prisoners. The little steamer had\nwon the day, having fired some eighty or ninety rounds; the troops had\ndone little or nothing. Only two men on Gordon's side were killed and\nfive were drowned.\n\nThus in a single day had fallen this important city, which was the key\nto the position of Soo-chow. Indeed, the impetuous young commander was\nanxious to dash on and seize Soo-chow itself, but he could not inspire\nthe Imperialist General with his spirit. He says, \"I have no doubt of\nmy having been able to take Soo-chow the other day, if the Mandarins\nhad been able to take advantage of our success.\" The capture of Quinsan\nwas one of the most brilliant strokes of success Gordon had during the\nwhole of the campaign, and he attributed it to the fact that the lines\nof communication between that city and Soo-chow were neglected, and\nthat he was permitted to get his steamer into the canal, which ran\nparallel with the only road. Both the armies which he defeated were\ncompelled to march along the road, as on each side of the road there\nwas water. Through the men marching thus in dense masses, the shot and\nshell from the steamer carried death and destruction, creating much\nconfusion. The Taiping rebels were evidently not prepared to fight such\nan amphibious general as Gordon proved himself to be.\n\nIt may be well to remark here on the fertility of resource and the\ninitiative power which this young commander possessed. It mattered not\nwhat difficulties arose, his fertile brain sooner or later devised a\nmethod by which he could overcome them. It is said that the best doctor\nis not necessarily the cleverest man, but the one who is most fertile\nin resource. If disorders of the human frame refuse to yield to one\nkind of treatment, another must be tried, and so on, until at last the\nright method is discovered. There can be no question that this is also\ntrue of the military and other callings in life. The man of a fertile\nbrain, ever ready to suggest new methods when old ones have failed, is\nthe most likely to succeed. It was to this cause, more than to any\nother, that Napoleon at first owed his success. When he was a young\nman, it was the custom in Europe to imitate blindly the tactics of\nFrederick the Great of Prussia, and to rely on ponderous heavy squares\nand a slow stiff method of moving. Napoleon was the first to see that,\nhowever suitable such tactics had been during the time of the great\nPrussian general, before the development of artillery, they were not\nadapted to the changed circumstances under which battles were fought in\nhis own time; and so in 1806 at Jena he smashed to pieces the Prussian\nforce, which came against him in all the pride of inherited traditions,\nhanded down from one of the greatest generals of his age. While it is\nalmost a truism to say that what is appropriate to one age is not\nsuited to another, it is only men of the type of Napoleon and Gordon\nwho are quick enough to see the necessity for a change of method, and\nsufficiently resourceful to adopt new plans. Ninety-nine generals out\nof a hundred would never have thought of utilising a little steamer to\ndestroy a land force, but would have proceeded in the old-fashioned\nmethods of a siege, and perhaps have lost an enormous number of men in\nthe process. The enemy are always more or less prepared for\nconventional methods of fighting, but it stands to reason that they are\nunprepared for new ideas. Hence much of Gordon's success.\n\nIn addition to this fertility of resource, Gordon displayed wonderful\ncourage in carrying out his ideas. No sooner had Quinsan fallen than he\nsaw that it would be a good thing to make a change in his headquarters,\nand to transfer them thence from Sung-kiang. With the old centre were\nassociated all sorts of traditions connected with the army before his\ntime, in the days when discipline was lax, and the one idea of the\nsoldiers was that the war was being carried on for the sake of\nproviding them with loot. There were loot agents and other means by\nwhich the officers and soldiers could easily dispose of their booty.\nAll this was demoralising, so Gordon decided on an immediate change.\nBut the army looked at the matter from a different standpoint, and a\nmutinous spirit arose. Mr. Wilson informs us that the artillery\nthreatened to blow the officers to pieces, and a written notification\nto that effect was sent to the General. Gordon at once summoned the\nnon-commissioned officers, who he knew were at the bottom of the plot,\nand threatened to shoot every fifth man if the name of the writer of\nthe notice were not revealed. Immediately they all commenced to groan,\none corporal making himself specially conspicuous by groaning very\nloudly. Whether Gordon had any suspicions with regard to this\nparticular man, we are not informed, but he directed him to be seized,\nand ordered a couple of infantry soldiers standing by to shoot him. He\nthen had the others confined, and again repeated his threat to the\neffect that one in every five would be shot if the name of the writer\nwere not given up. Events proved that the corporal already shot was the\nculprit. No doubt many in this country will judge Gordon harshly with\nregard to this summary method of dealing out justice; but it must be\nremembered that a civil war was going on in which thousands of lives\nwere annually sacrificed. Gordon knew perfectly well that he could\nsuppress it if he had a disciplined force under him. He also knew what\na frightful scourge an undisciplined army might become. According to\nthe tradition of all nations, each man in Gordon's army had forfeited\nhis life by disobedience in the presence of the enemy. What was the\nlife of one man compared with the thousands of women and children who\nwere suffering through the horrors of that war? We in England have been\nfor so long mercifully spared the misery of war in our own country,\nthat possibly public opinion has become a little too sentimental.\nDuring the Trafalgar Square riots in 1887, it was suggested by some\nthat the Fire Brigade should pump cold water on to the rioters in order\nto disperse them; and one writer seriously deprecated such a step, on\nthe ground that possibly the poor fellows who got the ducking might\ncatch cold! It is possible to go from one extreme to another, and,\nwhile wishing to avoid harshness and cruelty in any form, to become too\nsentimental, and thus do harm in an opposite direction. Sentimental\npeople too often forget the sufferings of the many innocent victims\nwhen contemplating those of a few culprits. War is too stern a thing\nfor us to trifle with, and those whose duty it is to be engaged in it\nmust be prepared to suppress with a strong hand anything in the form of\nincipient mutiny.\n\nWith regard to the threat which Gordon held out of shooting one man in\nfive, such a form of punishment is by no means uncommon in countries\nmore civilised than China. It has been frequently resorted to in\nRussia, and as recently as 1876, during the Russo-Turkish war, on\nsymptoms of a mutiny exhibiting themselves among the Russian troops,\nthe commander-in-chief threatened to shoot one in every ten of the men,\nand thus quelled the manifestation. There can be no question that\nGordon's acting as he did was far more plucky than all the personal\nexposure to danger through which he went. Many men who would be willing\nto sacrifice their own lives in the path of duty would have shrunk from\ntaking such a step.\n\nBut though Gordon was quite prepared to fight as long as he could\nbenefit his fellow-creatures by so doing, he was essentially a man of\npeace, and he loathed the horrors of war. On the 29th June he says:\n\"The rebels remain very quiet, and we are engaged in organising another\nattack upon them. I have, however, sent a letter to the rebel chiefs,\noffering my good services towards any arrangements they may be inclined\nto enter into with the Imperialists, by which more fighting may be\navoided. I am most anxious to have as little fighting as possible, and\nshall do my best to bring about a pacific solution of the question.\"\nThis was the more magnanimous when we consider that he was perfectly\nconfident in the ultimate result of the conflict, and that in the way\nof glory acquired by brilliant victories he had everything to gain in\nterminating the war by force of arms instead of by diplomacy.\n\nThe rebels at this time had received a great addition of strength by\nBurgevine going over to them, together with upwards of 300 English,\nAmerican, and other adventurers. On this subject Gordon says:--\n\n    \"The fact that Burgevine has joined the rebels will no doubt very\n    much prolong the rebellion, which, humanly speaking, would almost\n    have been put down this year, or at the latest next spring; but the\n    force at my command is too small to do everything, and one has to\n    act with great caution. I feel that I have so many lives intrusted\n    to me, that these are, as it were, at my disposal, and I will not\n    risk them in an enterprise I consider rash. Burgevine is a very\n    foolish fellow, and little thinks of the immense misery he will\n    cause this unhappy country, for of the ultimate suppression of the\n    rebellion I have little doubt.\"\n\nIn another letter he says, \"I think the rebels will soon get very tired\nof their auxiliaries, and the latter of the rebels.\"\n\nThe worst thing, however, that Gordon had to fear was treachery on the\npart of his own officers and men. Burgevine knew most of them well, and\nhad managed very skilfully to associate his own dismissal from the\ncommand of the Ever-Victorious Army with the fact that he was striving\nfor the interests of the men and officers. Consequently he was to a\ncertain extent a martyr in their eyes, and he made the most of this\nfact in endeavouring to corrupt some of Gordon's officers. For\nBurgevine was not more successful in alluring Gordon's army from its\nallegiance than in defeating it in open conflict. Having made one or\ntwo unsuccessful attempts, and discovered that the brilliant young\ncommander was more than a match for him, he asked Gordon to meet him at\nan appointed place, where he told him that he had determined to desert\nthe rebel cause. This did not surprise Gordon. What did astonish him\nwas that Burgevine went on to propose that Gordon and he should\ntogether capture Soo-chow, throw off all allegiance to either\nImperialists or rebels, organise an army 20,000 strong, and set up an\nindependent kingdom of their own. Being a mere adventurer himself, he\nlittle understood the man of honour with whom he had to deal. Gordon at\nonce cut short further communications. Burgevine and his men, however,\nbeing so disgusted with their masters, decided to leave them at all\ncosts, and sent to inform Gordon that at a signal-rocket being fired by\nhim they would rush out under pretence of a sortie and join him. The\nsignal was given, the sortie was made, and a good many got away, but\nBurgevine and a few others had been suspected, and detained. When\nGordon discovered this, he generously wrote to the rebel chiefs,\nexplained to them that it was against their interests to compel men to\nfight against their will, and asked for their release. The messenger\nwho bore the letter was interrogated as to whether he thought it\npossible for Gordon to be bought over, and his reply was of course in\nthe negative. Strange to say, Gordon's request was granted, and\nBurgevine was released and handed over to the British Consul. Dr.\nWilson informs us that:--\n\n    \"At the very time Burgevine was negotiating with Gordon in regard\n    to his relief, he had proposed to Jones, his lieutenant, a plan for\n    entrapping the man whose efforts were being directed toward the\n    succour of him and his followers. Jones revolted against treachery\n    so base, and he and Burgevine had a 'difficulty.' Jones told the\n    story thus: Burgevine drew out his revolver, which he cocked and\n    discharged at my head from a distance of about nine inches. The\n    bullet entered my cheek and passed upward; it has not yet been\n    extracted. I exclaimed, 'You have shot your best friend!' His\n    answer was, 'I know I have, and I wish to God I had killed you.'\"\n\nWe hear no more of Burgevine in connection with Gordon, so we here part\ncompany with him. According to Mr. Wilson, he had subsequently a very\nchequered career, and finally was reported to have been drowned by\naccident when a prisoner in the hands of the Imperialists. This writer\nsays, \"I have no reason to suppose that the account of his death given\nby the Chinese authorities was untrue; and if they did drown him\npurposely, they saved themselves and the American authorities a good\ndeal of trouble.\" The only wonder is that a scoundrel who so thoroughly\ndeserved to be hanged should ever have found a watery grave.\n\nAfter the Taipings had got rid of Burgevine and his followers, they\nbegan to lose heart, for they felt that the principal reason why these\nmen had deserted their cause was that it was a losing one. They thought\nthat their chances of holding Soo-chow against the ubiquitous Gordon\nwere slight, and, as is often the case under such circumstances, they\nunderrated their own resources, and overrated those of their opponents.\nThey made sure that Gordon would soon assault the city, but this he had\nno intention of doing. \"With the small force at one's command,\" said\nhe, \"I am not at all anxious to pit myself against a town garrisoned by\nseven, or even ten times our number, if it can be avoided.\" Instead of\nattempting an open assault, which must have resulted in a desperate\nloss of life, Gordon gradually surrounded the city with his own and the\nImperial troops, capturing all the smaller places around it, so that it\nmight be completely invested. Here again he exhibited his quick\nperception of the weak points in his opponents' character. Even the\ngreatest coward amongst our own countrymen would fight desperately if\nhe felt that all his means of retreat were cut off; but, strange as it\nmay seem, this is not a characteristic of all nations. Once let a\nChinaman feel that his means of retreat are destroyed, and he is filled\nwith panic. Gordon says, \"The great thing in taking stockades from the\nrebels is to cut off their retreat, and the chances are they will go\nwithout trouble; but attack them in front, and leave their rear open,\nand they will fight most desperately.\"\n\nInteresting as it would be to many, space does not permit us to follow\nthe details of the siege, and the severe struggles Gordon had in\ndifferent places, when capturing strongholds of the enemy in order to\ncut off their supplies. There are, however, a few personal incidents\nthat occurred at this time which deserve mention, in order to show what\nmarvellous escapes he had, and what great personal danger he was often\nin. Once when sitting on the Patachow Bridge, a somewhat celebrated\nstructure of fifty-three arches and 300 yards long, which he had\ncaptured from the enemy, a couple of shots from his own camp struck the\nbridge close to him. He was alone, and he could not account for the\nfiring. Leaving his seat to ascertain the cause, he got into his boat\nand started to row across the river, when suddenly an enormous mass of\nmasonry fell from the very spot where he had been sitting, and nearly\nstruck the boat. These two accidental--or shall we more correctly call\nthem providential?--shots saved his life. Again, on the assault of\nLeeku, he discovered that one of his officers, Lieutenant Perry, had\nbeen in communication with the enemy. When challenged, this officer\nmade an excuse which Gordon accepted, saying, \"I shall pass over your\nfault this time, on condition that, in order to show your loyalty, you\nundertake to lead the next forlorn hope.\" But Gordon forgot his\ndecision, and was leading the forlorn hope himself, when suddenly an\nofficer next to him was struck down. That officer was Lieutenant Perry,\nwho fell into the arms of his commander. Many of Gordon's officers were\nbrave men, but not a few of them exhibited the white feather, and he\nhad, in order to set an example of personal courage, often to take the\nlead. Sometimes he would take one of these timid ones by the arm, and,\nin his quiet way, conduct him into the thick of the fight. His men used\nto think he had a charmed life, and they termed the little cane which\nhe always carried in place of a sword \"the magic wand of victory.\"\n\nThere is one incident which should be mentioned here, although the\npublic did not hear of it for many years after it occurred. When the\nAshantee expedition was contemplated, and speculation was rife as to\nwhom the command should be offered to, somebody wrote to the _Times_,\nsigning himself \"Mandarin,\" and, among other things which he mentioned\nabout Gordon, said that during the month of September, before the\ncapture of Soo-chow, Gordon had decided to attack certain detached\nforts around that place. For some reason his men again mutinied, and\nrefused to march off the parade-ground.\n\n    \"At this juncture General Gordon arrived on the spot, with his\n    interpreter. He was on foot, in undress, apparently unarmed, and,\n    as usual, exceedingly cool, quiet, and undemonstrative. Directly he\n    approached the leading company, he ordered his interpreter to\n    direct every man who refused to embark to step to the front. One\n    man only advanced. General Gordon drew his revolver from an inside\n    breast-pocket, presented it at the soldier's head, and desired the\n    interpreter to direct the man to march straight to the barge and\n    embark. The order was immediately complied with, and then, General\n    Gordon giving the necessary word of command, the company followed\n    without hesitation. It was generally allowed by the officers, when\n    the event became known, that the success in this instance was\n    solely due to the awe and respect in which General Gordon was held\n    by the men; and that such was the spirit of the troops at the time,\n    that had any other but he attempted what he did, the company would\n    have broken into open mutiny, shot their officers, and committed\n    the wildest excesses. In less than a week the spirit of the troops\n    was as excellent as before, and gradually the whole garrison joined\n    in a series of movements which culminated in the fall of Soo-chow.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nEND OF THE REBELLION\n\n\nThe city of Soo-chow was in the possession of seven rebel generals,\neach exercising an independent command, but all recognising one of\ntheir number, Moh-Wang, as their head. Though the rebels had upwards of\n40,000 men in the city, they were badly provided with food, and\ndissensions broke out among them. Most of the generals were for\nyielding, but the brave old chieftain, Moh-Wang, opposed such a step.\nSome of the generals made overtures to Gordon and General Ching, making\nno other condition than that their lives should be spared. But\novertures were of no use so long as Moh-Wang refused to acquiesce. A\ncouncil of war was summoned, and hot words passed. One general seized\nthe brave old warrior, whose spirit was so invincible, stabbed him, and\nsevered his head from his body. That night, November 29, 1863,\nSoo-chow, which had been held by the rebels since 1860, was\nsurrendered. In order to prevent his men from looting it, Gordon sent\nthem back to Quinsan, but he asked Governor Li to grant them two\nmonths' extra pay, which was denied, though later on one month's pay\nwas granted. This meanness on the part of the civil Governor to a body\nof men who had done so much for the country very nearly led to a\nmutiny.\n\nThe culminating point of the young commander's grievances against his\nemployers was yet to come. On December 6th, when Gordon visited the\ncaptured city, he discovered that the rebel generals who had\nsurrendered had all been killed, in spite of the stipulation that their\nlives were to be spared. It is said that Gordon was so enraged with\nthis cowardly treachery that he burst into tears, and then went forth,\nrevolver in hand, to seek the Governor, in order to shoot him. It is to\nbe regretted that Sir Henry Gordon, in his biography of his brother,\ndenies this circumstance. Nothing is gained by attempting to screen the\nfaults of a great man. The commander of the Ever-Victorious Army was\nundeniably a great man, but it is also true that he had his share of\nhuman failings, among them a tendency to act on the impulse of the\nmoment. His honour had been touched, he felt that he had been disgraced\nand would appear in the light of one who could trample on a fallen foe,\nand there can be no question as to the accuracy of the fact, that in\nhis impulsiveness he did seek the life of Li Hung Chung; though the\nGovernor afterwards became a bosom friend of his. Mr. Wilson, another\nbiographer, who has already been quoted, read his MS. over to Gordon,\nso that his account is likely to be accurate. In it he says:--\n\n    \"His first impulse, when his two steamers came in sight, was to\n    obtain hold of the Futai (Governor Li) and inflict summary justice\n    on that high official. General Ching, however, gave timely warning\n    of Gordon's incensed state, and Li very wisely hurried into the\n    city, thus avoiding a meeting. For some days after this Gordon's\n    anxiety to meet with the Futai was only equalled by that of the\n    Futai to keep out of his way, and this was the only period of his\n    campaign during which the commander of the Ever-Victorious Army\n    _burdened himself with carrying arms_.\"\n\nThe last words of this quotation, which I have italicised, clearly\nindicate what the nature of the summary punishment would have been had\nthe two men met. Gordon had an opportunity of striking out those words,\nbut he was too honest to do so, for he knew they were true. Even though\nwe may blame him for his actions, we cannot but admire the honesty that\nwould not allow the fact to be concealed.\n\nBoth as a matter of policy and a matter of honour, Gordon saw what a\nfearful mistake had been made. He was of opinion that had an honourable\nunderstanding been come to with the rebels at this time, every other\ncity in their hands would have yielded, and thus the rebellion would\nhave been terminated. He at once demanded an investigation into the\nconduct of Governor Li and General Ching, and refused to co-operate\nwith them further. While Gordon was taking action in this matter,\nGovernor Li was sending despatches to Pekin claiming far more credit\nthan was fairly due for the Imperial troops, though he did not forget\nto praise Gordon as well. The Emperor sent the young commander 10,000\ntaels (about L3500) in token of his approbation, together with money\nfor the troops and the wounded. The latter was accepted, but the former\nwas indignantly declined, and that in a very few stiff sentences\nwritten on the back of the paper containing the order:--\n\n    \"Major Gordon receives the approbation of his Majesty the Emperor\n    with every gratification, but regrets most sincerely that, owing to\n    circumstances which occurred since the capture of Soo-chow, he is\n    unable to receive any mark of his Majesty the Emperor's\n    recognition, and therefore respectfully begs his Majesty to receive\n    his thanks for his intended kindness, and to allow him to decline\n    the same.\"\n\nWriting home he said, \"To tell you the truth, I do not want anything,\neither money or honours, from either the Chinese Government or our own.\nAs for the honours, I do not value them at all, and never did. I should\nhave refused the 10,000 taels even if everything had gone well, and\nthere had been no trouble at Soo-chow.\"\n\nGordon's army remained at Quinsan till the end of February 1864. They\nhad received L7000 from the Chinese Government, but this, of course,\ndid not compensate them for being prevented from taking their share of\nloot, and not only were they dissatisfied, but their inaction was\ndoubtless doing them much harm. Moreover, the rebel forces were\nrecruiting rapidly, and all the good work that Gordon had accomplished\nappeared likely to be undone. Gordon heard all the excuses that\nGovernor Li had to offer, and came to the conclusion that Asiatics must\nnot be judged according to the standard by which Englishmen, with a\nhigher sense of honour, measure themselves. He therefore made up his\nmind to emerge from his retreat, and, stipulating that in the event of\nfuture capitulations nothing should be done without his consent, he\nonce more took the field with the object of terminating the rebellion.\n\nOn the 17th February 1864 he had been promoted to the rank of\nlieutenant-colonel by the War Office authorities. This, of course, made\nno difference to his position as general in the Chinese army. His\nresumption of hostilities was marked by similar tactics to those which\nhe had previously found so successful. Blows rapidly struck at distant\npoints appear to have been his aim. Having captured Soo-chow, the next\nplace of importance was Nankin, the second largest city in China, about\n100 miles to the north-west. The rebels were in strong force there, and\nthe place was too distant to make it practicable to capture it, at\nonce, as there were several cities _en route_ still in the hands of the\nrebels. Gordon decided to take these latter in detail, and he commenced\nwith Yesing, which fell easily on March 1st. He then proceeded to\nLiyang, which yielded even more easily. The horrors witnessed on this\nmarch were awful. Gordon said of the inhabitants:--\n\n    \"Those who still remained alive had been driven to eat human flesh,\n    and the unburied bodies of the dead were in a condition which\n    showed that much of this revolting food had been consumed.\" \"The\n    scenes I have witnessed of misery are something dreadful; and I\n    must say that your wish for me to return with the work incomplete\n    would not be expressed if you saw the state of these poor people.\n    The horrible furtive looks of the wretched inhabitants hovering\n    about one's boats haunts me.... I hope to get the Shanghai people\n    to assist, but they do not see these things: and to read that there\n    are human beings eating human flesh produces less effect than if\n    they saw the corpses from which the flesh is cut.\"\n\nGordon's fate was to be hampered by the blunders of his friends. On\nMarch 20th he marched on Kintang; but just as he was about to commence\noperations, an alarming despatch reached him from the Imperial\ncommander. The Imperialists had actually not been able, with their\nimmense force, to hold cities that Gordon with his small one had\ncaptured and handed over to their charge. Fushan had fallen, and Chanzu\nwas in danger. However, Gordon thought that as he was so close to\nKintang, he might as well take it, and so he made an assault. It did\nnot, however, yield so easily, and Major Kirkham, one of his best\nofficers, was badly wounded. Gordon himself was also wounded below the\nknee. A soldier who saw him struck was about to proclaim the event,\nwhen Gordon stopped him for fear he should discourage the men. He went\non fighting till he fainted from loss of blood, and Dr. Moffitt[2] had\nto carry him out of action.\n\n      [2] Surgeon Moffitt of the 67th Regiment was a man of ability and\n      courage. He became a great personal friend of Gordon's, and\n      afterwards married one of Gordon's sisters. He died in the year\n      1882. He was the only officer who remained with Gordon from the\n      beginning of the end of the campaign.\n\nSir Frederick Bruce, the British representative, wrote to Colonel\nGordon after he was wounded at Kintang:--\n\n    \"Be cautious of yourself. I beg you not to look upon your position\n    merely from a military point of view. You have done quite enough\n    for your reputation as a gallant and skilful leader. We all look to\n    you as the only person fit to act with these perverse Chinese, and\n    to be trusted with the great interests at stake at Shanghai. Your\n    life and ability to keep the field are more important than the\n    capture of any city in China.\"\n\nGordon had to abandon further attempts to take Kintang, and retire on\nLiyang. Here he took to his steamer, as he could no longer march owing\nto his wound, the first and last that he ever had. With 1000 men he\nstarted on March 24th for Woosieh, to find that the rebels who had been\nthreatening that place had fallen back. On the following day, lying on\nhis back in a steamer, and accompanied by a flotilla, Gordon made a\ndash with the 1000 men he had right into the midst of the country held\nby the rebels, in order to ascertain their disposition of troops. Well\nmight Colonel Chesney say, \"One scarcely knows here whether most to\nadmire the pluck, or to wonder at the confidence of the wounded\ncommander!\" He quickly took in the whole situation, and made up his\nmind that a place called Waisso, which was held by the enemy in some\nforce, was the point at which to aim. Unfortunately, he was unable to\nget about himself, yet he could not take the entire force, which had\nbeen increased by one more battalion, on board. Consequently he had to\ndivide it, leaving a detachment to go by land. The officers put in\ncharge seem to have fallen into every mistake it was possible for\nsoldiers to make. The attacking regiments did not co-operate, their\nflanks were left unprotected, and a long gap was permitted to occur\nbetween two regiments. To make a long story short, the assault failed,\nthe assailants narrowly escaping annihilation. Unquestionably this\nsignal failure was due to the fact that the commander, being wounded,\ncould not see to details himself, and was obliged to leave his\nprincipal arm, the infantry, to the direction of others.\n\nFortunately the Imperialists with 6000 men came to Gordon's assistance.\nThe Imperial force had been doing remarkably well in their recent\nconflict with the enemy, but unfortunately had lost their commander,\nGeneral Ching. This man, who at first had been so jealous of Gordon,\nhad afterwards learnt to know and respect him, and Gordon had acquired\nquite an affection for him in spite of his faults. Gordon was deeply\ngrieved to hear of his death, indeed it is said that he burst into\ntears. It is touching to read an account of the death of this heathen\ngeneral, who, it will be remembered, had been a leading man among the\nrebels before they degenerated. Mr. Hake's account is founded on the\nstatement of Governor Li, who says that even when he knew his wound was\nfatal, he concentrated his mind on the affairs of the country. He\npointed out that though the rebels had been beaten, their strength was\nnot to be despised, and begged his colleague to order his officers to\nbe careful in battle. He remarked that brave men were not easily to be\nfound, and he bitterly regretted his own fate, by which he was\nprevented from doing his duty to his country. When gradually sinking,\nhe ordered his servant to bring the yellow jacket presented to him by\nthe Emperor, and to assist him on with it. He then bowed his head\ntowards the Imperial Palace, and thus he yielded up his brave patriotic\nspirit.\n\nAfter the junction of the Imperialists with Gordon's force there was\nlittle difficulty in the capture of Waisso, and with the fall of that\nplace on April 6th it became evident that the campaign was fast drawing\nto a close, the only places of any importance remaining in the hands of\nthe rebels being Nankin and Chanchufu. The former Gordon left to the\nImperialists, who felt confident of victory, and were very jealous of\nthe successful young soldier. Indeed, it is evident that they could\neasily have taken Chanchufu also, but they apparently were in no hurry\nto close the campaign. Many of them were mere mercenaries, who did not\nwant to remove the _raison-d'etre_ for their existence as an army.\nStrong suspicion exists that an incident which occurred soon after\nGordon reached Chanchufu, and when he was making preparations for the\nattack, was really an attempt on his life. He and Major Tapp, a clever\nartillery officer, were engaged in the construction of a battery, when\nsuddenly one of the picquets fired a volley at the battery, and the\nrebels, not knowing the cause, fired also. Gordon and his party were\nthus between two fires, and Major Tapp and several others were killed.\n\nThe first assault on Chanchufu was made by the Imperialists, and\ndefeated. Gordon was then asked to co-operate in another assault, which\nhe did; but not being supported by the Imperialists, he also failed.\nAfter this a combined assault was made, and again it failed. Seeing\nthat the place was too strongly defended for an ordinary assault,\nGordon taught the Imperialists how to approach it by means of trenches.\nAnother assault was made by the Imperialists, who were on the point of\nbeing driven back again, when Gordon came to their rescue, and the\nstronghold was taken. When the rebel commander was captured he said\nthat, except for the aid of Gordon and his men, he could have defied\nall the Futai hosts to take the city from him. The garrison was 20,000\nstrong; the place was skilfully fortified; and the rebels, thinking\nthat they would receive no quarter, fought with great desperation and\nrecklessness of life.\n\nWith the capture of Chanchufu ends the list of Gordon's fights in\nChina. His next care was to break up the Ever-Victorious Army. He knew\nthis to be very important, for he felt that they would be a standing\ndanger to the country. With men like Burgevine about, who were not\nwanting in skill, and were as unprincipled as they were daring, it was\nimpossible to say what might happen if the command of such an army fell\ninto bad hands. The Chinese Government behaved very generously, giving\neach wounded officer L900, and others on a similar scale. In a letter\nwritten home, Gordon says:--\n\n    \"The losses I have sustained in this campaign have been no joke:\n    out of one hundred officers I have had forty-eight killed and\n    wounded; and out of 3500 men, nearly 1000 killed and wounded; but I\n    have the satisfaction of knowing that, as far as mortal can see,\n    six months will see the end of this rebellion, while if I had\n    continued inactive it might have lingered on for six years. Do not\n    think that I am ill-tempered, but I do not care one jot about my\n    promotion or what people may say. I know I shall leave China as\n    poor as I entered it,[3] but with the knowledge that through my\n    weak instrumentality upwards of eighty to one hundred thousand\n    lives have been spared. I want no further satisfaction than this.\"\n\n      [3] It may be well to note here that his predecessor, Ward, who\n      was killed in action, accumulated the sum of L60,000, although he\n      was not very long in command, and was not considered at all an\n      unscrupulous man.\n\nA large sum of money was offered to Gordon and at first declined; but\nwhen pressed to accept it, he decided to do so, and divide it among his\nmen. His pay had been good, being over L3000 per annum, but, in his\nusual generous manner, he had spent it almost entirely on his men,\nespecially in providing comforts for the sick and wounded.\n\nThe last fight had taken place on May 11th, and by June 1st Gordon had\ndisbanded his army, his promptness exhibiting itself to the very last.\n\"So parted the Ever-Victorious Army,\" says Colonel Chesney in his\n\"Essays on Modern Military Biography,\" \"from its general, and its brief\nbut useful existence came to an end. During sixteen months' campaigning\nunder his guidance it had taken four cities and a dozen minor strong\nplaces, fought innumerable combats, put _hors de combat_ numbers of the\nenemy, moderately estimated at fifteen times its own, and finding the\nrebellion vigorous, aggressive, and almost threatening the unity of the\nChinese Empire, had left it at its last gasp, confined to the ruined\ncapital of the usurper.\"\n\nGordon paid a visit to the Imperialists who were investing Nankin,\nwhere he interested himself in their mode of conducting the siege, and\ngave a good deal of useful advice as to the future existence of the\nImperial army. Beyond this he took no active part. Nankin fell; the\n\"Heavenly King,\" who was the author of the rebellion, committed\nsuicide; and Chung Wang, his celebrated general, was beheaded,\npermission being given to him at his own request that he might first\nwrite his autobiography. One cannot but feel that it would have been an\nact of policy as well as of clemency had the Emperor spared the life of\nthis noble fellow Chung Wang, more especially as the so-called Heavenly\nKing had committed suicide. As long as he was alive Chung Wang showed a\nloyalty to him that was worthy of a better cause. He might easily have\nescaped with his life but that he was anxious to save the life of the\nson of the Heavenly King, a worthless individual, with all the faults\nof his father and none of his ability. Chung Wang gave up his\nfleet-footed horse to the young man, who did not even know how to make\nuse of the chance thus given him. The loyalty Chung Wang displayed to\nthe rebel chief might easily have been transferred to the Emperor.\nGovernor Li we shall hear of again, for when Gordon revisited China in\n1880 he found his old friend still alive and active. There can be no\ndoubt that Gordon's personal influence over this man was considerable,\nand when we next hear of him it is as standing almost alone among his\ncountrymen, pleading for a peaceable policy. The latter part of the\nfollowing letter, which he wrote to Gordon when in the Soudan, shows\nthat he had imbibed a good deal of that public spiritedness which made\nGordon so willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. The\nletter was dated March 22, 1879. Li Hung said:--\n\n    \"I am right glad to hear from you. It is now fourteen years since\n    we parted from each other. Although I have not written to you, I\n    often speak of you, and remember you with very great interest. The\n    benefit you have conferred on China does not disappear with your\n    person, but is felt throughout the regions in which you played so\n    important and active a part. All these people bless you for the\n    blessings of peace and prosperity which they now enjoy. Your\n    achievements in Egypt are well known throughout the civilised\n    world. I see often in the papers of your noble works on the upper\n    Nile. You are a man of ample resources, with which you suit\n    yourself to any kind of emergency. My hope is that you may long be\n    spared to improve the condition of the people among whom your lot\n    is cast. I am striving hard to advance my people to a higher state\n    of development, and to unite both this and all other nations within\n    the four seas under one common brotherhood.\"\n\nAn amusing circumstance was the utter bewilderment of the Regent of\nChina, Prince Kung, as to how he could reward Gordon. The money offered\nhe had refused for himself, and as for honours and distinctions they\nhad no charms for him. He accepted the yellow jacket, the highest\ndistinction the Chinese Emperor could confer (corresponding to our\nKnight of the Garter), but this he did only to please his parents, not\nbecause he valued it himself. Prince Kung called on the English\nMinister at Shanghai and said, \"You will be surprised to see me again,\nbut I felt I could not allow you to leave without coming to see you\nabout Gordon. We do not know what to do. He will not receive money from\nus, and we have already given him every honour which it is in the power\nof the Emperor to bestow; but as these can be of little value in his\neyes, I have brought you this letter, and ask you to give it to the\nQueen of England, that she may bestow on him some reward which would be\nmore valuable in his eyes.\"\n\nGordon had already been awarded a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy in the\nRoyal Engineers, so he was now made a Commander of the Bath; but he was\nas indifferent to English honours as to those of the Chinese. As for\nPrince Kung's letter to Queen Victoria, we are informed by Mr. Hake\nthat he has good reason to believe it never reached the Queen, but was\nallowed to remain in a pigeon-hole in the Foreign Office! Well may we\nquote the words of Axel Oxenstiern to his son, to which the late Prince\nConsort once referred in a letter to the late Emperor of Germany, at\nthat time Crown Prince of Prussia, \"Oh, my son, mark how little wisdom\ngoes to the government of states.\" Mr. Hake also informs us that when\nGeneral Gordon presented himself at the War Office, the Secretary of\nState seemed hardly to have heard his name, and knew nothing of his\nwork in China. Yet this was the man that at the age of thirty had saved\nfrom ruin the largest empire of the world! We are indeed a marvellous\npeople. We are always manufacturing sham heroes, and parading them\nbefore the world. Yet when we have a real one in our midst we utterly\nignore him. When one thinks of the many campaigns in which England has\nbeen engaged since the Chinese war was over, the public may well be\nastonished at a military system which allowed one of its ablest\nsoldiers to live in obscurity, and not even be consulted in the affairs\nof the nation. Sir William Butler with withering scorn says:--\n\n    \"Nay, he was almost a stranger in his own land, and, when nearly a\n    generation had passed away, and the fruit of many blunders had\n    accumulated in Egypt a load of disaster that seemed too heavy to be\n    borne, Gordon was at last called from the obscurity in which he had\n    been so long consigned--he was, his own brother has told us, as a\n    person who was now heard of for the first time.\"\n\nA report has been circulated that he was offered the command of the\nAshantee Expedition and declined it. This report has absolutely no\nfoundation. The truth of the matter is that he never was offered a\ncommand on active service of any kind by the British authorities. Those\nwho manage the affairs of other nations were able to recognise the\nmerits of this remarkable man, and to find opportunities for him to\nexercise his powers, but our own authorities seem to have been\nabsolutely blind to his qualities. Yet this was he of whom Colonel\nChesney, a great writer on military matters, said, \"If there is a man\nin the world who can conduct a war with honour, thoroughness, and\nhumanity, and bring it to a satisfactory close without needless delay\nor expense, England has that man in 'Chinese Gordon.'\" It is, of\ncourse, quite possible that every army has some men of military genius,\nwhose services are never utilised in positions of importance, for the\nsimple reason that they are unknown to the authorities. There is no\nprofession in which it is more difficult to pick out the born leaders\nthan is the case in the army. Plenty of men who promise well when in a\nsubordinate position prove miserable failures when in command. Men who\ncan pass examinations with flying colours are not always able to make\nuse of their knowledge in the field. A foreign power had, however,\nprovided a field in which one of our officers was able to show what\nwonderful military instincts he possessed. It is therefore all the more\ndifficult to find excuses for those who were responsible for the fact\nthat, as far as England was concerned, Gordon was allowed to live in\nobscurity, and was never even offered a command of any sort in any of\nthe campaigns in which his countrymen were engaged.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII\n\nAT GRAVESEND\n\n\nWhen Lord John Russell visited Elba, he was asked by Napoleon, then a\nprisoner there, whether he thought that his rival, the Duke of\nWellington, would be able to live without the excitement of war, which\nNapoleon used to call \"a splendid game.\" It seemed incredulous to\nNapoleon that a man who had shown himself so good a soldier as\nWellington should retire into the position of a simple citizen, and\nNapoleon, little knowing the great man, thought that he would probably\nuse his influence as a statesman to involve his country in war again.\nTo some it may possibly seem strange that Gordon, who had distinguished\nhimself as a soldier, and had saved an empire, should again take up the\nhumble avocation of an engineer officer, but so he did. He was in\nreality only a captain of engineers, though a brevet lieutenant-colonel\nin the army, when in February 1865 he returned home. He took a few\nmonths' leave, which he spent quietly at Southampton with his father\nand mother, shunning all publicity.\n\nOn the expiration of his leave he was sent to Gravesend, to superintend\nthe building of some forts for the protection of the Thames. During one\nof our periodical panics as to the safety of the country, large sums of\nmoney were voted for defensive purposes. Gordon's duties were very\nsubordinate as far as these defences were concerned. The plans were\nmade out by others, and his duty was merely to see them executed.\nThough he worked very hard in the performance of his duty, he made no\nsecret of the fact that he thoroughly disapproved of the way in which\nthe national money was being wasted. It is said that one day, when the\nCommander-in-chief came to inspect the progress of the work, Gordon\ndenounced the whole thing most vehemently, and exposed its\nworthlessness. It is characteristic of the man that he had the courage\nof his opinions at all times. He must have been carried away a good\ndeal by his feelings, for when he got home that day he said that he\nmight have been put under arrest for the way in which he had denounced\nthe work of his superiors. As it was, his Royal Highness smiled\ngood-naturedly at his vehemence, and took no further notice. But though\nGordon thoroughly disapproved of the nature of the defences on which he\nwas engaged, he worked very hard at them, and it certainly is through\nno fault of his if the Thames fortifications are not all they should\nbe. He was an early riser and a hard worker, and as he hardly ever went\ninto society, and did not go in for games, he found time to engage in\nall kinds of religious and philanthropic work, in addition to his other\nduties. He spent six years at Gravesend, and, although this is not a\npopular station with many officers, he found so much to be done, that\nin after years he used to look back upon the time spent there as the\nhappiest of his life. After the stirring scenes through which he had\npassed in the Crimea and in China, it may have appeared to some a very\ncommonplace, uninteresting sort of life to eke out for so many years,\nbut no one more than Gordon felt the force of the truth conveyed in the\nlines:--\n\n    \"'A commonplace life,' we say and we sigh;\n      But why should we sigh as we say?\n    The commonplace sun in the commonplace sky\n      Makes up the commonplace day.\n    The moon and the stars are commonplace things,\n    And the flower that blooms, and the bird that sings;\n    But dark were the world, and sad our lot,\n    If the flowers failed, and the sun shone not;\n    And God, who studied each separate soul,\n    Out of commonplace lives made His beautiful whole.\"\n\nOne remarkable characteristic of Gordon was the persistent way in which\nhe avoided publicity of any sort, evading every effort to bring him\nforward. When he first came to Gravesend no one knew him, and he used\nquietly to take a seat in the gallery of the parish church. As soon as\nit was discovered that the stranger who occupied such a humble place,\nwas no other than the renowned \"Chinese Gordon,\" great efforts were\nmade to induce him to take a more prominent position. But it was in\nvain. What was good enough for the poor was good enough for him, and he\ndid not approve of the rich and the eminent occupying all the good\nseats, to the exclusion of the poor, whose souls were just as valuable\nin the sight of God. Again, he steadily refused to take the chair at\nall public meetings. It was not that he could not speak at such\ngatherings, for, although he was not a good speaker, he was by no means\na bad one, and he was always willing to conduct services for the poor.\nHe had a horror of taking a prominent position, and the only occasion\non which he ever broke through his rule as to taking the chair, was at\na meeting of some three hundred children over which he presided. He\nwas, however, very much at home when sitting in front of a class of\nchildren, and this he infinitely preferred to giving formal addresses\neven to children. Only once was he persuaded to address the whole\nschool collectively. Speaking to a large number of children requires a\nspecial gift, and this he did not possess. His strength with children\nlay in the fact that he obtained a personal influence over each one\nindividually. With a small class he could get to know each by name, and\nwin the affections of all one by one. The words, \"He loved little\nchildren,\" which were the only epitaph on the tomb of a certain\nSunday-school teacher, might well be applied to Gordon. It is difficult\nto say what kind of teacher he was, or whether he availed himself of\nthe latest developments in the art of instructing children; but this is\nquite clear, that he had one of the best qualifications a teacher can\npossess, love for his pupils. There is a tale of a lady visitor who\nonce asked a little boy why he went so far to his Sunday-school, when\nthere were as good ones nearer at hand. The reply was, \"They may be as\ngood, but they are not so good for me;\" and when the lady asked him\n\"Why not?\" he said, \"Because they love a fellow over there.\" Love is a\nqualification that is too often lacking in teachers, but it was one\nthat Gordon displayed very prominently. Need we wonder that the \"dear\nlittle fellows,\" as he used to call them, responded by loving him in\nreturn?\n\nNor was it only in the Sunday-school that Gordon's love for the young\nwas exhibited; he also had a class in the ragged school, and used to\ninvite his boys to his house for instruction in the evening on week\ndays, as well as on Sunday evenings. When three or four of them had\nscarlet fever, he nursed them in his own house, and would sit up at\nnight talking to them, till he could get them to drop off to sleep. He\nused to call these boys \"kings,\" a name suggested to him when reading\nRev. i. 6, \"And hath made us kings and priests unto God.\" He exclaimed\nto his sister, \"Why then, these are little 'kings,'\" and he stuck to\nthe name. He took great pains to secure good posts for his boys in\nships going to sea, and on a map on his wall he kept a number of little\nflags representing the boys he had sent abroad. These flags he used to\nmove about as he heard from time to time where the lads were. We need\nnot be surprised that among these boys were some who ardently loved\nhim, and that they used to give expression to their feelings by\nscribbling on the wall with a piece of chalk, as boys will do, \"God\nbless the Kernel,\" \"C. G. is a jolly good fellow,\" or \"Long life to our\ndear teacher, Gordon.\" The ragged school at Gravesend still retains the\nChinese flags which he presented to the boys, flags which he had\nhimself captured from the Taiping rebels. They are now kept as precious\nrelics, to be displayed only on special occasions. Sir Henry Gordon\nsays, that when the news reached England of the death of the heroic\ndefender of Khartoum, a young man, about twenty-five years of age,\ncalled on him to inform him that he and others who had been Gordon's\nboys at Gravesend, wished to put up some kind of memorial to his\nmemory, and that he was willing to give L25. He was much overcome when\nspeaking of all that Gordon had done for him.\n\nAnother writer relates that on one occasion when Gordon was watching\nsome workmen, he saw among them a lad looking very unhappy. On his\ninquiring, the lad said, \"Mother has left us, and gone away from home;\nand everything there is so miserable that it is not like home at all.\"\nAt once the boy was invited to spend his evenings at the Fort House,\nwhere he was instructed in the night school class, and taught to read\nhis Bible. Some little time after this he fell ill, and the doctor\ndecided that he ought to be taken to the local infirmary. \"Shall I see\nyou there, Colonel?\" he asked with wistful eyes; \"I know I am going to\ndie.\" \"But you are not afraid,\" replied Gordon, \"for now you know who\nsays, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life.' He will be as near to you\nin the infirmary as here, and as near to you in death as in life.\" \"Oh\nyes, I know Him now;\" and so he did, for as the narrator said, \"The\nColonel had led him to Christ by his life and teaching.\" When in the\nhospital the young lad said to a nurse, \"Read the Bible to me, there is\nnothing like it.\" \"But you are very tired,\" said the nurse. \"Yes, I am\nvery tired. I do long to go to Jesus.\" This is a briefly narrated\nincident, and is but a specimen of many that might be recorded if space\npermitted.\n\nGordon also took special pleasure in visiting the workhouse and talking\nto the paupers, remembering that--\n\n    \"Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,\n      Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;\n    Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,\n      Chords that were broken will vibrate once more.\"\n\nWorkhouse inmates are, as a rule, a very disheartening class to visit.\nA large percentage of them have been brought there by faults of their\nown, and most of them are beyond the age when one may reasonably hope\nfor reform. Gordon's kind heart was proof against disappointment, and\nhe persistently used to visit the old people, supplying tobacco to the\nmen, and tea to the women, and chatting away to them, in an effort to\nhelp them to forget their troubles. He was mindful, too, of the sick,\ncaring not who the sufferer was nor what his complaint; so long as he\nwas in need, so long was Gordon a regular visitor at his sick-bed.\nFrequently when he heard that the doctors had ordered delicacies beyond\nthe reach of a patient, he would purchase what was required, and\nadminister it with his own hands. Mr. Lilley says:--\n\n    \"On one occasion he visited a poor, wretched woman, in an\n    apparently dying condition. He at once lighted a fire, made some\n    gruel for her, and fed her with his own hand. He afterwards\n    appointed a nurse to look after her, and sent a doctor to her, and\n    it is believed that she is still residing at Gravesend, a living\n    testimony to his generous care.\"\n\nThe people so loved him, that often instead of sending for the\nclergyman when in sickness or trouble, the poor would send for the\nColonel living at Fort House, the official residence of the officer\ncommanding the Royal Engineers.\n\nEven his house and garden seem to have been placed at the disposal of\nthe poor in the neighbourhood. A visitor once remarked to his\nhousekeeper on the beautiful vegetables his garden produced. She\nreplied that the Colonel never touched them, but used to let the poor\npeople come in and cultivate plots of ground in the garden, and grow\ntheir own vegetables; and even when presents of fruit were sent him by\nfriends, he used to take them to the bedside of some sick person, who\nhe thought needed them more than he did.\n\nAs for his own food, nothing could have been more simple and plain. The\nRev. S. H. Swaine says, \"Coming home with us one afternoon late, we\nfound his tea waiting for him--a most unappetising stale loaf and a\nteapot of tea. I remarked upon the dryness of the bread, when he took\nthe whole loaf (a small one) and crammed it into the slop-basin, and\npoured all the tea upon it, saying it would soon be ready for him to\neat, and in half-an-hour it would not matter what he had eaten.\" It is\nsaid that some of the boys whom he invited to live in his house were a\ngood deal disappointed when they saw the kind of fare that was put\nbefore them. They had fondly imagined that the occupant of such a grand\nhouse would have sumptuous meals, which they would share, and they were\nnot prepared for the plain salt-beef, and other good but very plain\nfood, to which the Colonel was in the habit of sitting down. But though\nhe denied himself luxuries of any sort, he often used to take grapes\nand other dainties to the sick and the dying.\n\nAll forms of distress aroused his interest; and when the late Canon\nMiller of Greenwich was collecting money for the suffering people at\nCoventry, during the cotton famine, Gordon took a large and valuable\ngold medal, that had been presented to him by the Empress of China, and\nhaving with a gouge scooped out his name, which was engraved upon it,\nput it into an envelope and despatched it to the Canon, merely\nnotifying briefly the object for which it was sent. Efforts have been\nsince made to discover the fate of the medal, which was of the best\ngold, and twice the size of a crown piece, but owing to the death of\nCanon Miller, they have hitherto been unsuccessful.\n\nGordon was, indeed, generous to a fault, and sometimes he was taken in\nby impostors; but as he had a good knowledge of human nature, he was\nnot deceived so often as many with his generous heart would be. His\ngenerosity was only limited by his purse, and there were times in his\nlife when he drew the line too fine, for, as he himself once said, \"I\nassure you that many a time I have not known where my food was to come\nfrom, nor if I should find a place in which to lie down at night.\" So\nlong as there was money in his pocket, so long had he money to give\naway; but on many occasions he forgot that he had a long railway\njourney before him, and that the generosity he displayed to the needy\nwould not be extended to him at the railway ticket office. But on the\nwhole, his money was well laid out; many is the lad he started in life,\nmany the waif he picked up from the gutter, who, now a well-to-do\nrespectable member of society, might, but for him, have been a\ncriminal, getting into trouble himself, and leading others astray.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nIt would be interesting to follow more in detail the career of this\nremarkable man at Gravesend, but space forbids. Gordon only spent six\nyears at this kind of work, and much of the time was engaged in his\nofficial duties, yet the results were so good, that one cannot but\nregret that a longer part of his career was not passed in the same way.\nFrom his letters written in the Soudan, it is evident that he often\nthought of devoting his old age to work among the poor, had he been\nspared. It was, however, willed otherwise, and we are only permitted to\nsee how much can be done by a man in six years, when his heart is\nthoroughly in the work.\n\nIt has been remarked more than once, that Gordon's military career\nreminds one of the great soldier Cromwell, who did so much to rescue\nEngland from the degenerate condition into which it had fallen under\nthe miserable rule of the Stuarts. In the same way the six years spent\nby Gordon at Gravesend, very forcibly remind us of the great religious\nphilanthropist, Lord Shaftesbury, who did perhaps more than any other\nman of this nineteenth century, or any other century, to relieve human\nsuffering, and to solve some of those difficult problems that are\nassociated with the condition of the poor. Lord Shaftesbury had little\nin common with Cromwell, except that both loved God and hated tyranny\nand injustice. Their ways of going to work were very different, but one\ncannot help seeing that Gordon combined much of both characters; and\nhad his lot fallen in different times or different circumstances, he\nmight have undertaken the work of either. He had all the martial\ninstinct of a Cromwell, and, with it, the love of relieving suffering\nwhich so characterised Lord Shaftesbury. His one object seems to have\nbeen to--\n\n    \"Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,\n      Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;\n    Weep o'er the erring ones, lift up the fallen,\n      Tell them of Jesus, the Mighty to save.\"\n\nGordon was never allowed to carry on any work for any great length of\ntime, and the six years at Gravesend passed very quickly. In 1871 he\nwas appointed British representative on the European Commission to\nsuperintend the improvement of the mouth of the Danube, so that it\nmight be made more navigable for ships. He was engaged in this work for\ntwo years, with his headquarters at Galatz; and the eminent war\ncorrespondent, Archibald Forbes, says that he \"found his memory still\ngreen there in the early years of the Russo-Turkish war, fourteen years\nafter he had exchanged the mosquitoes of the Lower Danube for the not\nless venomous insects of the Upper Nile.\"\n\nApart from the testimony of Archibald Forbes, we may be quite sure that\nhe did some good work at Galatz, for it would be difficult to imagine\nhim doing nothing but the ordinary routine of official duties. He\nalways discovered an opening of some sort by which he could help his\nfellow-creatures, and his active mind and sympathetic nature were, in\nthe words of Jean Ingelow, always asking the question of those with\nwhom he came in contact--\n\n    \"Are there no briers across thy pathway thrust?\n      Are there no thorns that compass it about?\n    Nor any stones that thou wilt deign to trust\n      My hand to gather out?\"\n\nThe time had now come when he was to be called to a new form of work,\none to which he was to give the best years of his life, and for which\nultimately he was to sacrifice life itself. In the Crimea and in China,\nhe had shown what he could do as a soldier; at Gravesend he had set a\nnoble example to the world of what a Christian philanthropist might do\nin his spare hours; and now he was to be called to wage war with the\nhorrors of slavery. We had him in our midst for six years, and we found\nno work for him worthy of his abilities; but while we overlooked his\nmerits, other nations were not so blind. Just as later on the King of\nthe Belgians was anxious to secure his services which we were allowing\nto remain idle, so now Nubar Pasha, the far-sighted minister of Ismail\nKhan, Khedive of Egypt, persuaded him to enter the Egyptian service,\nand go to Africa as Governor of the Equatorial Provinces.\n\nBut before we follow him into the Soudan, it may be well to dwell for a\nlittle on the distinctly religious aspect of his life.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII\n\nSIMPLE FAITH[4]\n\n\nThere are few young men who cannot remember having, in their boyhood,\ntaken a caterpillar and shut it up in a box. Before long the creature\nassumed a chrysalis form, and finally developed into a butterfly, with\na completely new power not possessed by the caterpillar. Instead of\nonly being able to grovel on the ground, the creature in its new\nexistence is able to soar high into the air. This is one of Nature's\nconversions, and is a faint illustration of the spiritual change which\ntakes place in the human heart, when the natural man becomes a new\ncreature with new powers. It is customary for some to sneer at the\ndoctrine of conversion, scorning the idea of a distinctly spiritual\nchange taking place in the human heart. It would, however, be difficult\nto find any other term by which accurately to describe the change that\ntook place in Gordon's life.\n\n      [4] In this and the following chapter, I have, in order to give\n      Gordon's views, selected quotations from his letters at different\n      periods of his life, but not always in chronological order. For\n      want of space a large number of extracts have had to be omitted;\n      those that are given must be taken as specimens.\n\nUp to a certain period, while he had done well all that he was called\nupon to do, and had completely outstripped his peers, showing himself,\nin his professional capacity, to be a head and shoulders above his\nfellows, there were nevertheless latent powers within him, which had\nnot yet been called into play. Who can study his life without being\nconvinced that he had a power with God, in later life, that he did not\npossess earlier? Christ said, \"I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men\nunto Me.\" He was lifted up before Gordon's eyes, and there was a\ndistinctive response to the magnetic influence of the Cross; and, as in\nthe laws of magnetism, the instrument that has been charged can in its\nturn charge metal brought into contact with it, so in the life of\nGordon we see, that not only had the Redeemer a distinct influence on\nhis whole nature, but that he was himself so charged with Divine love,\nthat he was able to exert a magnetic influence over others.\nEcclesiastics may fight and wrangle about names and terms; we have to\ndeal with facts. It matters little by what name we call it, the fact\nremains that a distinct spiritual change came over Gordon, leaving him\na man who had power with God. But though the effect of this change in\nGordon's life was most marked, it is not so obvious when it took place.\nAs a boy and a cadet he was full of animal spirits, and somewhat given\nto practical joking; but, though not a religious boy, he never was bad\nin the ordinary acceptation of the term. After he had obtained his\ncommission, before he went out to the Crimea, there were distinct\nindications of a feeling after God, and some have affirmed that this\nwas brought about through the influence of his mother. That good\nmothers are blessed by God as the means of conveying spiritual light to\ntheir boys, is a fact so frequently evident, that writers and others\nare often led to assume it must always be the case. Now, though Gordon\npossessed an excellent mother, of whom he was very fond, and who in\nlater years became a true Christian, as a matter of fact in early life\nshe was somewhat worldly. She was always a remarkably clever and\nsensible woman, but in the matter of religion she never attempted to\ninfluence her son. Whatever of spiritual good there was in him, was\ntherefore not due to her. That he had great affection for her is clear,\neven if there were no other evidence, from a letter written during her\nillness in October 1873, when he was abroad, to his sister, in which\noccurs this passage:--\n\n    \"Kiss my dear mother, and do not fret for me. I have, thank God,\n    all comfort, peace, and happy reminiscence with the knowledge that\n    the Comforter is with you all; that He is able, willing, unselfish,\n    and kind, and that He will keep you all till you reach the land\n    where the 'sun never sets,' and where you will see Him, and know\n    why 'Jesus wept' at Lazarus' grave. Feed by the living pastures;\n    they will fatten you.\"\n\nA few days later he says:--\n\n    \"By keeping my watch at your time, I feel enabled to know what you\n    are doing. It will be a sore trial for you to see my dear mother\n    leave her worn-out shell, but you will feel that God takes her to\n    Himself. My dear mother has spent a useful, hard-working life, and\n    a happy one; it seems as if it is for you she is kept.\"\n\nStill the truth expressed in the following lines applied to Gordon's\ncase:--\n\n    \"They talk about a woman's sphere,\n      As though it had no limit.\n    There's not a place in earth or heaven,\n    There's not a task to mankind given,\n    There's not a blessing or a woe,\n    There's not a whispered yes or no,\n    There's not a life, or death, or birth,\n    That has a feather's weight of worth,\n      Without a woman in it.\"\n\nWriters have too often ignored the influence of an elder sister in the\nformation of a man's character. There can be little doubt that even\nbefore Gordon went out to the Crimea, he was indebted to his sister for\nmuch spiritual help, as the following letter, written from Pembroke in\n1854, shows:--\n\n    \"MY DEAR AUGUSTA,--Write another note like the last, when you have\n    time, as I hope I have turned over a new leaf, and I should like\n    you to give me some hope of being received.\n\n    \"... I got your very kind letter to-day, and am very much obliged\n    to you for it. I have not had time to look out the texts, but will\n    do so to-morrow. I am lucky in having a very religious captain of\n    the 11th, of the name of Drew; he has on the mantelpiece of his\n    room the 'Priceless Diamond,' which I read before yours arrived. I\n    intend sending to you, as soon as possible, a book called 'The\n    Remains of the Rev. R. M'Cheyne,' which I am sure you will be\n    delighted with. I told Drew to go to Mr. Molyneux; and he did so,\n    and of course was highly pleased. I cannot write much in favour of\n    our pastor; he is a worldly man, and does not live up to his\n    preaching; but I have got Scott's 'Commentaries.' I remember well\n    when you used to get them in numbers, and I used to laugh at them;\n    but, thank God, it is different with me now. I feel much happier\n    and more contented than I used to do. I did not like Pembroke, but\n    now I would not wish for any prettier place. I have got a horse and\n    gig, and Drew and myself drive all about the country. I hope my\n    dear father and mother think of eternal things. Can I do or say\n    anything to either to do good? When you get my book, read the\n    'Castaway.'\n\n    \"You know I never was confirmed. When I was a cadet, I thought it\n    was a useless sin, as I did not intend to alter (not that it was in\n    my power to be converted when _I_ chose). I, however, took my first\n    sacrament on Easter day [16th April 1854], and have communed ever\n    since.\n\n    \"I am sure I do not wonder at the time you spent in your room, and\n    the eagerness with which you catch at useful books--no novels or\n    worldly books come up to the Sermons of M'Cheyne or the\n    Commentaries of Scott. I am a great deal in the air, as my fort is\n    nine miles off, and I have to go down pretty often. It is a great\n    blessing for me that in my profession I can be intimate with whom I\n    like, and have not the same trials among my brother officers as\n    those in a line regiment have. I ought not to say this, for 'where\n    sin aboundeth, grace aboundeth more fully;' but I am such a\n    miserable wretch, that I should be sure to be led away. Dearest\n    Augusta, pray for me, I beg of you.\"\n\nFor several years after the date of the above letter, he alludes very\nlittle to religion, and if we may accept his own statement on the\nsubject, in a letter from China, dated Taku Forts, 15th March 1862, it\nis probable that he went back for a time.\n\n    \"The climate, work, and everything here suits me, and I am thankful\n    to say I am happy both in mind and body. I have had a slight attack\n    of small-pox--it is not necessary to tell my mother this, as it\n    will trouble her. I am glad to say that this disease has brought me\n    back to my Saviour, and I trust in future to be a better Christian\n    than I have been hitherto.\"\n\nThen followed the stirring adventures he went through in command of the\nEver-Victorious Army in China; but that he could not, during that\nperiod, have had the full assurance which characterised him later on,\nand which arises from the witness of the Holy Spirit, is evident from\nthe fact that he once remarked to his aunt, Miss Enderby, that he could\nnot make out how it was that he had feared death so little, when all\nthe time he did not know that he was prepared to die.\n\nOn the 19th September 1865, his father passed away a few months after\nhe had taken up his appointment at Gravesend. This event seems to have\nmarked an important crisis in his spiritual life. He shut himself up in\ncomplete retirement for a few days, and emerged a very different man\nfrom what he had been before. From that time to the day of his death,\nhe was known as an out-and-out Christian. During the previous ten years\nit is clear, from his letters, that he was in the highest and truest\nsense a child of God, but there seems to have been something wanting in\nhis character. From the time of his father's death, he seems to have\nhad such a firm assurance in Christ, that religion was the prevailing\nelement of his life.\n\nIt is interesting to note that Gordon dedicated himself to the service\nof God not only in the full vigour of health and strength, but at a\ntime when he might have been, had he chosen, one of the world's\nfavourites. In the case of some, broken health, advancing age, or\ndisappointed hopes and ambitions, are the causes that lead to a search\nfor something more lasting than this world can offer. Thankful as we\nmay be when any man yields to the higher claims of his Heavenly Father,\nwhatever the prompting cause may be, it is satisfactory to be able to\nrecord an instance in which apparently none but the highest motives\nwere at work. Gordon at the time of his father's death was only\nthirty-two years of age, and though young, he had done deeds of heroism\nwhich might make many a Victoria Cross hero envy his opportunity and\ncourage. He had seen what the world had to offer, and he decided that\nthere was a nobler life to be led. To that new life he dedicated his\nremaining years, and, it need hardly be added, he never regretted the\nchoice. As late as the 26th March 1881, after he had just recovered\nfrom a severe illness, he remarks: \"B---- said, when dying, how glad he\nwas he had sought God in his time of strength, for when he was sinking\nhe could not do so, and so I feel.\"\n\nIf we may form any opinion from expressions in his letters, dating from\nthis time to the day of his death, Gordon's religion brought him that\n\"peace of mind which passeth all understanding,\" and which the world\ncan neither give nor take away. The following are but specimens of many\nremarks which he let fall from time to time on this subject:--\n\n    \"I may say that I have died suddenly over a hundred times; but in\n    these deaths I have never felt the least doubt of my salvation.\"\n\n    \"I would that all had the full assurance of life. It is precisely\n    because we are despicable and worthless that we are accepted. Till\n    we throw over that idea that we are better than others, we can\n    never have that assurance.\"\n\nNor must it be thought that the joy and happiness he experienced in\nreligion arose from any inward sense of self-satisfaction. Never had a\nman a humbler estimate of himself than Gordon, but his faith in this\nrespect took a very healthy form. Instead of morbidly looking into his\nown heart for evidences of his union with Christ, he ever kept his eye\non the precious work of his Saviour for him. Space will not permit many\nquotations from his writings, so the two following must suffice. The\none was written soon after his conversion, the other near the end of\nhis life.\n\n    \"_May 3, 1867._--We are _born_ corrupt, and, if the devil had his\n    way, we should be kept in ignorance of it; our permitted\n    transgressions show us our state; it is the root that is evil, and\n    evil must be its emanations, yet we feel much more oppressed by the\n    outward sin than by the inward corruption.\"\n\n    \"_May 7, 1883._--Give me a ream of foolscap and I will sign it: it\n    may be filled with my demerits and unworthiness, which I agree to;\n    but my so doing is a proof of how much I accept the free gift of\n    God. Unless our Lord's sufferings were in vain, it is just that\n    sheet of demerits that I have signed which gives me my right to\n    Him; had I a clean sheet I should have no right to Him.\"\n\nGordon's, however, was not a faith which contents its possessor merely\nwith a sense of the forgiveness of sins. That he possessed this happy\nassurance, is evident. But no sooner had he entered into possession of\nsome of his privileges as a child of God, than he pressed on to obtain\nmore spiritual advantages. The indwelling of God in his heart was a\ntruth to which he attached much importance, and the following extracts\nare but specimens of much that might be quoted showing that he held the\nsame truth from a period very soon after his father's death to the year\nwhich preceded his own death.\n\n    \"_July 31, 1867._--I have had very nice thoughts on 1 John iv.\n    13--'Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God\n    dwelleth in him, and he in God.' I think it is the key to much of\n    the Scripture. I am more than ever convinced that the secret of\n    happiness and holiness is in the indwelling of God. The same truth\n    is shown in many other verses, but the above, to my mind, shows it\n    more clearly. Let a man seek the teaching of the Holy Spirit on\n    such verses, and he will grow much in grace. As we believe _that_\n    text, so we shall realise the presence of God in our hearts, and,\n    having Him there, we have as a sequence holiness and love. He alone\n    can make us believe the truth and keep it in mind.\"\n\n    _\"March 15, 1882._--It had struck me before, in 1865, that the\n    ordinary Christian life of _non-assurance_ was not a sufficient\n    gain to have come from Christ's incarnation and death; then I\n    learnt _assurance_, then followed the knowledge of His indwelling,\n    then the solution in my mind of the problem of the safety of\n    others; and then I halted, having given up the thought that in this\n    life it was possible to regenerate the body, putting down its\n    failings as venial and connected with our human infirmities. In\n    time it came to me that surely some growth, some improvement, ought\n    to be made, some increased sanctification ought to be expected,\n    one ought not to be so very barren; glimpses of selfishness,\n    self-seeking pride, and a certain weariness of one's _chateaux\n    d'Espagne_ came to me, and led to this--Christ dwelleth in us, and\n    His light enlightens all dark places.\"\n\nHe held very strongly the teaching of the Apostle in Rom. vii., that we\nhave two natures contending for the mastery, the one good and the other\nevil. Writing to his sister he says:--\n\n    \"We are torn in twain by our two natures, namely, our own judgment\n    and our faith, and the result must be inconsistent work. How can it\n    be otherwise? In appearance the Bible is inconsistent, and so must\n    we be who fulfil it. The only consolation is to fall back on the\n    text, 'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto\n    thine own understanding.'\"\n\nAnd again on the 6th October 1878:--\n\n    \"You cannot evade it: we are each composed of two beings--one of\n    which we see, which is temporal, which will fulfil certain works in\n    the world; and one unseen, eternal, and which is always in\n    conformity with God. One is sometimes uppermost, sometimes subdued,\n    but rules in the long run, for it is eternal, while the other is\n    temporal.\"\n\nGordon was a remarkable instance of the truth of the text, \"The people\nthat do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits,\" a truth which\nis as applicable to individuals as it is to nations. Gifted by nature\nwith a strong character, its strength was greatly developed by the way\nin which he came into personal contact with God in the study of His\nWord. He yielded no slavish subservience to any Church or priest,\nhowever good, but tested all doctrines by the unerring standard of\nGod's truth. \"Take the Holy Spirit,\" he used to say, \"for your teacher,\nand you will never want another word from man on questions of\ndoctrine.\" He never shrank from facing difficulties, or new theories,\nas some do who are not quite sure of the ground on which they stand,\nbut would ask all who propounded novel doctrines for chapter and verse\nfor their authority. When difficulties arose, he used to treat them as\nthat great scholar, the late Dean Alford did, as shown in the following\nwords: \"I find difficulties in the Bible as well as others, but I am so\nconvinced of the general truth of that sacred volume as a whole, that I\ncan easily afford to suspend my judgment on those matters which for\nsome purpose perhaps God has not permitted me to understand.\"\n\nThe Bible was to Gordon a living oracle, to which he used to apply at\nall times. Here are extracts from two of his letters showing how he\nregarded it:--\n\n    \"Out of commiseration for our dual condition, God _has_ given us an\n    oracle which will answer any question, advise, instruct, and guide\n    us; now this oracle must be His voice, for, if not, it would not be\n    His word. He has in His infinite wisdom incarnated His voice in the\n    Scriptures; His voice is to be understood by the highest or lowest\n    intellect; it gives answers, &c., through all time. To the carnal\n    man it is an ordinary book, to the spiritual man it is alive and\n    makes alive.\"\n\n    \"Whether we may apprehend it or not, the Scripture contains the\n    mind of Christ, and is, when illuminated with the Spirit, as if\n    Christ was ever talking to us. Now, we should think that if Christ\n    was ever near to talk with us, _that_ should suffice us, and\n    consequently, _as I believe that in theory_, I try to realise it in\n    practice.\"\n\nKnowing the high value that Gordon placed on the Word of God, we shall\nnot be surprised to hear that he took intense pains to study the sacred\nvolume. He incidentally mentions that one page of his Bible had been so\nworn by use that he could hardly read the words. The energy and\nthoroughness ever evinced in his professional duties, he also practised\nin the earnest search for God's truths. He used to apply the text, \"In\nthe sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,\" to the soul as well as to\nthe body, to the living Bread of Life as well as to the bread that\nsustains physical life. At one time he devoted a great deal of time to\nstudying the book of Revelation, although he admitted that it was the\nmost difficult book in the Bible to understand. He did not profess to\nunderstand it all, but he used to quote that saying of Dr. Mackie's,\n\"The blessing to be looked for does not come by comprehension, but by\nthe reading of the revelation God has given us in His Word, Rev. i. 3.\"\nBut though he read and studied his Bible as earnestly as he would any\nother book, he never forgot the fact that only the Holy Spirit can\nteach us the truths contained in it.\n\n    \"We can see the _history_ of the Bible, and may understand it, but\n    we forget that we are blind to its secret mysteries, unless God\n    shows them to us; our Saviour says, 'Unto you it is _given_.' Only\n    the Spirit _in_ man finds God.\"\n\nHe contended, moreover, that there could be but little benefit from a\nmere theoretical study of the Bible, and that consequently the best\nschool in which to learn the sacred truths it contained was that of the\ndiscipline of life.\n\n    \"I feel sure that no study without trial is of avail; life must be\n    lived to learn these truths. I believe, if a man knows his Bible\n    fairly, and then goes forth into the world, God will show him His\n    works. The Jews learnt the Scripture by heart, and so I expect our\n    Saviour did; He therefore had no need to study it. He applied its\n    teachings to life and its trials.\"\n\nNor did Gordon study his Bible only when he was alone, for he was very\nfond of reading it in company with those who, like himself, valued it.\nThus Mr. Pearson, of the Church Missionary Society, who was at Nyanza,\ngives a brief account of his visit to Khartoum in 1878, and says,\n\"After the work of the day was finished, Gordon would say, 'Let us have\nreading and prayer;' and in that very palace which was, perhaps, the\nscene of his death, we used to meet and pray, not separating sometimes\nuntil one in the morning.\"\n\nBefore leaving Gordon and his Bible, it is interesting to note that the\nactual copy of the Scriptures which he had for a long period, including\nthe time of his first visit to Khartoum, is now at Windsor Castle in\nthe possession of the Queen. The following is the Queen's letter on the\nsubject:--\n\n    \"WINDSOR CASTLE, _March 16, 1885_.\n\n    \"DEAR MISS GORDON,--It is most kind and good of you to give me this\n    precious Bible, and I only hope that you are not depriving yourself\n    and family of such a treasure, if you have no other. May I ask you,\n    during how many years your dear heroic Brother had it with him? I\n    shall have a case made for it with an inscription, and place it in\n    the Library here, with your letter and the touching extract from\n    his last to you. I have ordered, as you know, a Marble Bust of your\n    dear Brother to be placed in the Corridor here, where so many Busts\n    and Pictures of our greatest Generals and Statesmen are, and hope\n    that you will see it before it is finished, to give your opinion as\n    to the likeness.--Believe me always, yours very sincerely,\n\n    \"VICTORIA R. I.\"\n\nIt is not a little remarkable that in the history of all eminent\nChristians, those who attach great importance to the study of the Word\nof God invariably make a point of spending much time at the throne of\ngrace, waiting on God in prayer. These two means of grace seem to be\nalmost inseparable, and we seldom find one much in use without the\nother. Some people talk about being too busy to spare time for prayer\nor study of the Scriptures, but Luther used to say that the more work\nhe had to do, the more necessary did he find it to hedge-in time during\nwhich he could be alone with God. The more work there is to be done,\nthe more strength is needed, and therefore the more important is it to\nmake use of those means which alone can bring strength for work. Few\nmen get through more work in the course of the year than Gordon did,\nbut he made a great point of so arranging his work as to enable him to\nfind time for private communing with God.\n\nWhen in the Soudan as Governor-General he used to hoist a flag outside\nhis tent to indicate to outsiders that he was not to be disturbed\nexcept under very urgent circumstances, and that flag became the signal\nthat the occupant of the tent wanted to be alone with his God, to seek\nfor guidance[5] and strength, which he felt he needed so much in\nconducting the affairs of the province over which he was called to\nrule. Like all men who begin by praying much for themselves, his heart\nwas soon drawn out in prayer for others; and it is evident that he\ninterceded much for his enemies, as well as for those with whom he was\nofficially brought into contact. Thus in one letter he says: \"I believe\nvery much in praying for others; it takes away all bitterness towards\nthem;\" and on another occasion:--\n\n      [5] It is sometimes said that Gordon used to \"toss up\" when he\n      was in any doubt, and that such a step indicates want of faith in\n      prayer. As a matter of fact, he did appeal two or three times to\n      lot in this way, and he used to quote Acts i. 26 as a precedent;\n      but it is not true that he often decided questions thus, nor is\n      it true that he resorted to an appeal to lot instead of seeking\n      guidance in prayer. He would pray first, and ask God to indicate\n      His mind in this modern form of appeal to lot.\n\n    \"The only remedy with me is to pray for every one who worries me;\n    it is wonderful what such prayer does. In heaven our Lord\n    intercedes for us, and He governs heaven and earth. Prayer for\n    others relieves our own burdens. God turned the captivity of Job\n    _when he prayed for his friends_, who had been as thorns in his\n    side. I feel strongly that the grace God gave me to pray for my\n    enemies in the Soudan led to my success, though I certainly used\n    the sword of Caesar on them.\"\n\nThose who are opposed to the doctrine that salvation is not to be\nobtained by human merit, but by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,\nsometimes assert that the Gospel teaches people to be selfish, by\nthinking first of their own salvation. As a matter of fact, the most\nactive Christians are those who hold this doctrine; and never has the\nChurch of our country been so fruitful of good works, as when her\nchildren have been careful to make it clear that salvation is not to be\nobtained by them. It is not selfishness for a man to think of his own\nsoul first, when he knows that he cannot do much good to others till\nits salvation is assured. The happy combination between a natural\nunselfishness, and a newly developed love for the temporal and\nspiritual welfare of his fellow-creatures, had very blessed results in\nGordon's case. No sooner was he thoroughly convinced of the importance\nof religion, than his unselfish nature exhibited itself in a marvellous\ndevelopment of the missionary spirit at home and abroad. When Gordon\nsecured anything good, his unselfish nature at once prompted him to let\nothers share it. It is sometimes supposed that only men of strong faith\nare in earnest about the propagation of their faith, but this is not\naltogether a correct way of stating a fact. The young man who makes\ngood use of the muscular power given to him by Nature acquires greater\nstrength, whereas he who fails to do so finds that he has to pay the\npenalty of his neglect in having his muscles grow flabby and feeble.\nAnd so it is with faith. The unselfish man who starts with a weak\nfaith, but is determined to let others derive as much benefit as\npossible, finds his faith growing stronger and stronger, as he\ncontinues to witness evidences of the influence of that faith on\nothers. Had Gordon, like one in the parable, wrapt his faith up in a\nnapkin, instead of making good use of it by putting it out to usury, he\nmight never have acquired the strong faith which so characterised him.\nAs it was, he not only to the last day of his life had cause to thank\nGod for the full assurance he enjoyed, but the number of orphans, of\nwidows, and of others, who derived benefit directly or indirectly from\nhis faith, will never be known.\n\nThere are some to whom one might apply, though in a slightly different\nsense, the words of Naaman's servants, \"If the prophet had bid thee do\nsome great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?\" While willing to\nexercise this faith in the performance of great deeds, they overlook\nnumerous smaller opportunities of working for their Master, and fail to\ndo anything because they are always looking out for great\nopportunities. The great change in Gordon's life took place at\nGravesend, and it was there he commenced to show that intense longing\nto do good to others which characterised him to the end. Nothing was\nbeneath his notice, nobody too insignificant for him. The gutter\nchildren, and the inmates of the workhouse, might have been passed over\nby many in his position who had higher aims. It was not so with Gordon,\nand consequently he quickly cultivated the missionary spirit, and soon\nreaped a rich harvest, proving the truth of Browning's lines about the\nhumble-minded man, who finds nothing too insignificant for his\nenergies:--\n\n    \"That low man sees a little thing to do,\n      Sees it and does it:\n    This high man with a great thing to pursue,\n      Dies ere he knows it.\n    That low man goes on adding one to one,\n      His hundreds soon hit:\n    This high man aiming at a million\n      Misses an unit.\"\n\nHere was a man, who had already made a great name for himself in the\nworld, and might, had he wished, have been far better known, planning\nout for himself a future career, the main object of which was to spread\nabroad a knowledge of those spiritual truths which had so greatly\nbenefited him, and that not by the formation of some great society,\nsome splendid organisation, but by simply putting himself into touch\nwith some of the humble city missionaries, and, through their\ninstrumentality, getting at the poor. Witness these two passages from\nhis letters:--\n\n    \"_January 8, 1881._--I hope, D.V., to put myself in communication\n    with some of our Scripture-reader people, and shall try and visit\n    Christ, who is in the East end in the flesh (Matthew xxv. 34). I\n    feel this is what I shall like; these truths were not given to make\n    a man idle.\"\n\n    \"_September 24, 1881._--I have been down for two Sundays to meet a\n    lot of Chinese, and have spoken to them as well as I could. I have\n    not yet touched on Jesus and His sacrifice, but spoke of God's\n    indwelling. It was satisfactory, and they were pleased.\"\n\nIt is also interesting to note how, from time to time, he kept on\nreproaching himself for not being more alive to his responsibilities,\nand making better use of his opportunities to do good. He even seemed\nto begrudge himself the few months' holiday he spent in Palestine\nrecruiting his health and energies. Writing on August 14, 1882, he\nsays:--\n\n    \"Fancy, since I left Mauritius, with the exception of twenty-nine\n    days on board ship, I have been living at hotels, and, I may say,\n    have not talked of the pearls to more than a dozen people.\"\n\nAnd again from Palestine he wrote:--\n\n    \"You know I do not like idleness; I want to get to a place where I\n    can find sick people to visit, feeling sure that is the necessary\n    work for me; I think He will direct me, so I seek no advice\n    elsewhere. I leave it to God, to decide in His time. I do not like\n    the ways of the polished world, and my dislike has increased during\n    the time I have been here.\"\n\nHowever much Gordon might reproach himself, it must not for one moment\nbe supposed that, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, there was\nany cause for it. He was in truth a most indefatigable worker, and no\nmatter how hard his official work was, he always seemed to find time to\ndo something for his Master. A case in point is the time he spent in\nSouth Africa, when it is difficult to understand how he got through all\nthe official work he managed to compress into his brief sojourn. Yet we\nfind that the herculean task of reorganising the colonial army was not\nthe only thing that occupied his attention, for on the 12th August 1882\nhe writes to his sister:--\n\n    \"How odd, those leaflets[6] being in Dutch, and my wanting them,\n    and your sending them just as I am about to go up to the Free\n    State, when, as in the 'Auld time long ago,' I shall be dropping\n    them along the road near the Boer towns. What hundreds I did give\n    away; how I used to run miles, if I saw a scuttler (boy) watching\n    crows in a field! If I, or any one else, went now to Gravesend and\n    dropped them, how quickly men, now grown up, would remember that\n    time. Send me the whole lot out unless you want them, I mean of all\n    languages; it is the loveliest leaflet I ever saw, and it still\n    looks fresh.\"\n\n      [6] This leaflet consists principally of a few choice and\n      carefully selected passages of Scripture, and shows how intensely\n      he valued the _ipsissima verba_ of God's own word, as a means of\n      reaching the human heart.\n\nFrancis de Sales, an eminent saint of the Roman Catholic Church, when a\nfamine was prevailing, and he wanted to preach in a certain village,\npurchased twelve waggons and packed them with bread. He sent the\nwaggons forward one at a time, going on the last one himself. \"For,\"\nsaid he, \"we must get at the poor through their physical natures. They\nwill be the more willing to receive our message for their souls when\nthey see that we care about their bodies.\" Gordon used to act on the\nsame principle, and made a great point of caring for the physical wants\nof any he found in trouble. It would be difficult to enumerate all the\ninstances of this to which publicity has been given, but a few cases\nmay suffice. One lad who exhibited consumptive tendencies he sent at\nhis own expense to Margate. The boy recovered, grew up to be a man, and\nchristened his eldest son \"Gordon,\" in memory of one who, he used to\nsay, had \"saved both his body and soul.\" Another story is told of a\ncase in which Gordon handed over a dirty little urchin to one of his\nlady friends, with the remark, \"I want to make you a present of a boy.\"\nUnder good influences the lad grew up until he became a respectable\nmember of society. Years after, when he was earning good wages at sea,\nand was about to be married, he fell from the topmast of his vessel,\nand was conveyed to the Gravesend Infirmary with a fractured skull. In\nhis last moments, however, he did not forget his benefactor, and, in\ntrembling tones, asked his adopted mother to tell the Colonel how he\nvalued the truth contained in that beautiful hymn he had taught him,\n\"Jesus, Lover of my soul.\" The same writer mentions also the history of\na boy called Albert who, through Gordon's kindness, was apprenticed to\na tradesman at Gravesend. Subsequently the lad went into a business\nhouse at Southampton, where he was placed in a department which he did\nnot understand. Fearing that his services would be dispensed with, he\ncommunicated with his friends, and they, in turn, wrote to General\nGordon, who happened to be staying in Southampton at his sister's\nhouse. Without loss of time the General called on \"Little Albert,\" whom\nhe scarcely recognised in the youth of six feet two inches who\npresented himself, and had a consultation with his employer. The result\nwas that the young man was retained in his situation, and placed in a\ndepartment with which he was well acquainted.\n\nIt is by no means uncommon to find that those who are eager about the\nspread of spiritual truths among professing Christians, are also keenly\nalive to the importance of mission work among non-Christian people.\nGordon was a remarkable instance of this happy combination. The chapter\nthat deals with his life in Palestine gives an insight into this part\nof his character, but a few words will not be out of place here to show\nhis opinion on this subject in other countries. He had a very high\nideal of what a missionary should be, and a supreme contempt for bad\nmissionaries. He was on the whole fortunate in the class of men he came\nacross in Palestine, the Soudan, and South Africa. In the first of\nthese two places the missionaries belonged to the Church Missionary\nSociety, an organisation with which he was much in sympathy. But he\nalso met men of other societies, and his large-hearted sympathies went\nout to them too. He was a great admirer of Livingstone, and spoke of\nhim with much respect and affection. The spirit of heroism which has\ncharacterised so many of our missionaries attracted him greatly. \"Do\nnot send lukewarms,\" he once wrote to Mr. Wright, the Honorary\nSecretary of the Church Missionary Society; and one of the first things\nhe did at Gravesend was to support the Moravian Missions by becoming\ntheir local treasurer. Later on in Africa he writes, \"How refreshing it\nis to hear of the missionary efforts made in these countries.\"\n\nWe may not quite agree with all that Gordon said on the subject of\nforeign missions, and some may think that the standard he set up was\ntoo high for frail human nature to aim at. Moreover, recent events in\nUganda, and elsewhere, may have shown us that good work can be done by\nmen who fall far short of Gordon's standard. Nevertheless, we cannot\nbut feel that he was himself, in the truest sense of the word, a\nmissionary, and that the Earl of Harrowby did not at all exaggerate the\ntruth when he said about Gordon, after his death:--\n\n    \"I believe that one effect of that man's example was to lift up a\n    noble standard for the cross in a way that no professional\n    missionary could have lifted it up, and to oblige devotees of\n    pleasure and people who had thought but little of such things to\n    acknowledge the power of the Gospel. Many who saw him and spoke to\n    him could not understand him. It was to them a marvellous sight to\n    witness, and I feel that we can hardly be grateful enough to that\n    great man for the infinite benefits which he has bestowed upon us\n    as friends of missions.\"\n\nApart from any direct work that he did to advance the cause of\nmissions, an illustration has recently been given us in _The Jewish\nIntelligencer_, showing what an influence his life had on Mohammedans\nand others with whom he came in contact. The writer describes a\nconversation he had with a shereef from Mecca, a man who was held in\nthe greatest veneration by all loyal Mohammedans. He was a\nwell-informed man, and had travelled much. In speaking of Gordon, he\nsaid: \"Oh! the English lost a great man, it is true, but the unhappy\nMussulmans have lost in him a benefactor, a father, and a servant of\nthe true God. Before I knew him I hated the Christians, but Gordon has\ntaught me to love them; and I see more clearly every day that a\nreligion which makes such heroic, faithful, and disinterested men, can\nonly be a religion coming from the true God.\" And, believe me, the\nwhole Mohammedan world has felt, and still feels every day, the loss of\nthe noble defender of Khartoum.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX\n\nHIS CATHOLICITY\n\n\nSo many Churches and parties have laid claim to Gordon's patronage, and\nsuch extraordinary views have been attributed to him on religious\nsubjects, that it may not be out of place to say something on the\npoint. His mind was very comprehensive, and his whole nature\nsympathetic, consequently many, differing widely from each other, have\nregarded him as an ally of their own cause. When he became Private\nSecretary to Lord Ripon, on the appointment of the latter, who is a\nRoman Catholic, as Governor-General of India, it was stated in some of\nthe Indian papers that the new Viceroy had been urged by Mr. Gladstone\nto accept a Baptist as his Private Secretary, in order to conciliate\nthe Nonconformist and Protestant element in England. There was not a\nword of truth in the statement. The Baptist Church has possessed some\nvery eminent men, such as Sir Henry Havelock, Dr. Carey, Dr. Judson,\nDr. Angus, and Mr. Spurgeon, but General Gordon was not one of their\nnumber. He was baptized as a member of the Church of England, and\nthough he was never confirmed, yet he lived and died a communicant of\nthat body. In many ways he was a thorough type of that catholic\ngenerous class of Churchmen, so characteristic of our National Church,\nwhich, taking a large-hearted view of Church membership, recognises all\nthat is good, noble, and pure in other systems, and is not afraid of\nlosing caste by associating with Nonconformists. Nor would it be fair\nto say that his catholicity developed only in the direction of the\nNonconformists, for no man ever tried more than he to see good in other\nsystems of religion, such as the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, and\neven Mohammedanism. He had a remarkably open mind, and was always\nanxious to distinguish between persons and principles. He fully\nrecognised the errors of certain religious systems, but this did not in\nthe least interfere with his recognition of good in the individuals who\nadhered to them. The catholicity of his own views may be gathered from\nthe following extracts made from his letters at different times:--\n\n    \"I do not think much of getting help from only one particular set\n    of men; I will take Divine aid from any of those who may be\n    dispensing it, whether High Church, Low Church, Greek Church, or\n    Roman Catholic Church; each meal shall be, by God's grace, my\n    sacrament.\"\n\n    \"I would wish to avoid laying down the law: you may look at a plate\n    and see it is round; I look at it, and see it is square; if you are\n    happy in your view, keep it, and I keep mine; one day we shall both\n    see the truth. I say this, because we often are inclined to find\n    fault with those who do not think as we do, 'who do not follow\n    _us_.' Why trouble others and disturb their minds on matters which\n    we see only dimly ourselves? At the same time I own to repugnance\n    to the general conversation of the world and of some religious\n    people; there is a sort of 'I am holier than thou' in their words\n    which I do not like, therefore I prefer those subjects where such\n    discussions do not enter.\"\n\n    \"Join no sect, though there may be truth in all. Be of the true\n    army of Christ, wear His uniform, _Love_: 'By this, and by no other\n    sign, shall men know that ye are My disciples.'\"\n\nIf we may judge of a man by his friends and his books, few can surpass\nGeneral Gordon in catholicity. He used to say that he learned certain\ntruths from certain individuals. Thus, from the writings of an eminent\nPlymouth Brother, C. H. Mackintosh, he learnt the doctrine of the two\nnatures within himself, and from a Mr. Jukes he learnt the lesson of\nthe crucifixion of the flesh. \"Mr. Mylne,\" he used to say, \"taught me\nthe importance of intercessory prayer, and Colonel Travers taught me\nthe importance of bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit.\" He valued\nalso Bishop Pearson's work on the Creed, and the standard work on the\nThirty-nine Articles by the lately-retired Bishop of Winchester. \"The\nImitation of Christ,\" by Thomas a Kempis, was a favourite book, and one\nwhich he gave away largely. \"Christ's Mystical,\" by Hall, and \"The Deep\nThings of God,\" by Hill, were also much valued, and given away to his\nfriends, as well as Clark's \"Scripture Promises,\" and Wilson on\n\"Contentment.\" He was an admirer of the eminent preacher Charles H.\nSpurgeon, about whom he says:--\n\n    \"I found six or seven sermons of Spurgeon in the hotel, and read\n    them. I like him; he is very earnest; he says: 'I believe that not\n    a worm is picked up by a bird without direct intervention of God,\n    yet I believe entirely in man's free will; but I cannot and do not\n    pretend to reconcile the two.' He says he reads the paper to see\n    what God is doing and what are His designs. I confess I have now\n    much the same feeling; nothing shocks me but myself.\"\n\nHe was personally very fond of the late Bishop of Lincoln, Dr.\nChristopher Wordsworth, describing him as \"imbued with the indwelling\nof God; only one fault--he is hard on the Roman Catholics.\" The last\nphrase gives a good insight into the working of Gordon's mind. Romish\nCatholicism, as a religious system, was about as opposed as anything\ncould be to his own views, which were all in favour of comprehensiveness,\nand a large display of individuality. But though he had no sympathy\nwith the narrow exclusiveness of that ecclesiastical survival of the\ndark middle ages--the Roman system--he had the greatest sympathy with\nearnest individuals, who in spite of their system possessed the Spirit\nof Christ. He had many sincere friends who were members of the Church\nof Rome, and he used to remark that some of them set a noble example of\ndevotion to many Protestants, who did not act up to their own\nprinciples. Writing on the 5th January 1878, he says:--\n\n    \"Why does the Romish Church thrive with so many errors in it? It is\n    because of those godly men in her who live Christ's life, and who,\n    like as Zoar was spared for Lot's sake, bring a blessing on the\n    whole community. For self-devotion, for self-denial, the Roman\n    Catholic Church is in advance of our present-day Protestantism.\n    What is it if you know the sound truths and do not act up to them?\n    Actions speak loudly and are read of all; words are as the breath\n    of man.\"\n\nBut in spite of his large-hearted toleration he had no hesitation in\nspeaking out against the tendency of Romanism which unduly exaggerates\nthe position of the priests, and puts the laity into a subservient\nposition with regard to them. Writing from Khartoum with regard to the\nAbyssinians, he says:--\n\n    \"The excommunication of the priests is the great weapon--it is\n    terrible; far worse than, or quite as bad as, that of the\n    Inquisition. It amuses me to hear the Catholic priests here\n    [Khartoum] complain of it, and say that the priests want to keep\n    the people ignorant, so as to rule them. Is it not what _they_\n    would do elsewhere, if they could?\"\n\nIt may be supposed by some that General Gordon was a member of what is\nknown as the Evangelical party in the Church of England, but though he\nheld perhaps more in common with that party than with any other, it\nwould be inaccurate to say that he belonged to it. Religious party\nviews are always rather difficult to describe, and it will be found\nthat in every party there are some whose minds do not run on partisan\nlines. An eminent bishop was once asked to define the three parties of\nthe National Church, and he replied, that the High Churchman always\nasked what the Church taught, the Broad Churchman could be\ndistinguished by his asking what reason taught, and the Evangelical was\nknown by his asking what the Bible taught. If such a rough-and-ready\nsystem of classification be applied to General Gordon, there can be no\nquestion that his loyalty to the Bible would stamp him at once. In\naddition, however, to this characteristic, which was the most prominent\none in his life, he held in common with the Evangelicals, and far more\nstrongly than the majority of them, the doctrine of Election, and the\nwise policy of cultivating friendly relations with Nonconformists, to\nwhose places of worship he frequently went, as also the doctrine of\npersonal assurance, and that of the utter depravity of human nature.\nBut Gordon was not of a type of mind that can ever go completely with a\nparty. He had such a strong individuality, that it would have been\nimpossible for him to do as many do--sink his own views on questions\nnot of vital importance, so as to be enabled to work with the party\nwith which he was most in accord. He was nothing, if not original and\ngenuine; he sought the truth for himself, and would not receive\nstereotyped views of religion where he did not see that they were in\nharmony with the Bible.\n\n    \"He that cannot think is a fool,\n    He that will not is a bigot,\n    He that dares not is a slave.\"\n\nHis fearlessness in the search for truth made him frequently touch on\nsubjects on which his own mind was not fully made up. The fate of those\nwho had not accepted Christ as their Saviour was one of these points.\nThough he frequently spoke of his own salvation, through the merits of\nChrist, he believed that God had provided some means of saving those\nwho had never had opportunities of hearing of Christ, but he never\ndogmatised on what those means were. Referring to his Mohammedan\nsecretary, Berzati Bey, he writes on the 12th April 1881:--\n\n    \"He will ever be one of those who have taught me the great lesson,\n    that in all nations and in all climes there are those who are\n    perfect gentlemen, and who, though they may not be called\n    Christians, are so in spirit and in truth. They may not see how\n    Christ is their Saviour, but they die with a sense that all their\n    efforts are useless, and with the conviction that unless God\n    provides some way of satisfying His justice, they have no hope.\"\n\nThe fate of the heathen who are suffering, not from any personal\nrejection of true religion, but on account of the sins of some distant\nancestors who forsook the worship of the true God, is a mysterious\nsubject, and one on which true Christians have differed. The most that\nany of us can do is to take comfort in the conviction that--\n\n    \"The love of God is broader\n    Than the measure of man's mind.\"\n\nIt must not, however, be thought, because Gordon held that the\nignorance of the heathen was no bar to their salvation, that he in any\nway undervalued the benefits of the Christian faith. Again and again,\nin view of his being asked to become a Mohammedan in order to save his\nlife, he says in substance what he wrote on September 10, 1884, when\nKhartoum was surrounded with bigoted Mahdists: \"If the Christian faith\nis a myth, then let men throw it off; but it is mean and dishonourable\nto do so merely to save one's life, if one believes it is the true\nfaith.\"\n\nHe also believed that heathen magicians had influence with God. Writing\nto his sister shortly after a repulse that his men received from some\nnatives near Moogie, in the Equatorial Province, he says: \"Did I not\nmention the incantations made against us by the magicians on the other\nside, and how somehow, from the earnestness that they made them with, I\nhad some thought of misgiving on account of them? These prayers were\nearnest prayers for celestial aid, in which the Pray-er knew he would\nneed help from some unknown power to avert a danger. That the native\nknows not the true God is true; but God knows him, and moved him to\npray, and answered his prayer.\"\n\nBut while General Gordon held much in common with the liberal\nEvangelicals, there was one point on which he differed from them very\nstrongly, and on which he was more in sympathy with the Broad Church\nparty in the National Church, or those amongst the Nonconformists known\nas the Down Grade party; this was the doctrine known as Universalism.\nWhether we agree with him or not, we must in honesty recognise the fact\nthat Gordon held a modified form of the doctrine that there is no such\nthing as future punishment. Writing on the 13th October 1878 he gives\nhis views thus:--\n\n    \"I look on universal salvation for every human being, past,\n    present, or future, as certain, and, as I hope for my own, no doubt\n    comes into my mind on this subject. Is it credible that so _many_\n    would wish it to be otherwise, and fight you about it? And among\n    those _many_ are numbers, whose lives, weighed truly as to their\n    merits by the scale of the sanctuary, would kick the beam _against_\n    those _they_ condemn.\n\n    \"Once I did believe that some perished altogether at the end of the\n    world--were annihilated, as having no souls. After this, I believed\n    that the world was made up of incarnated children of God and\n    incarnated children of the evil spirit; and then I came to the\n    belief that _the two are in one_.\n\n    \"With reference to the doctrine of annihilation, I do not think it\n    gives the same idea of God as is obtained from this other view. It\n    may show force to annihilate, but we should think more highly of a\n    monarch who would, by his wisdom, kindness, and long-suffering,\n    turn a rebel people into faithful subjects, than of him who had the\n    land wasted and utterly destroyed his rebellious subjects. I do not\n    think that after the declaration, 'It is _finished_,' there can be\n    any more probation; punishment brings no one to God.\"\n\nOnce more, writing on the 16th May 1883, he says:--\n\n    \"I have become much more timid about speaking of these matters of\n    universal salvation, yet perforce one comes to this question. If\n    every one lives, then he must live by the fact of his possession of\n    an emanation of the Life of Life, which must be good, and never can\n    be evil. This emanation is the cause of his existence, his life in\n    fact, and that I regard as the '_he_.'\"\n\nPerhaps the best answer will be found in Sir William Butler's \"Life of\nGordon.\" Dealing with Gordon's difficulty about future punishment, he\nsays with truth:--\n\n    \"Yet never lived there man who in his own life had seen more of the\n    vast sum of human wrong-doing which has to be righted somewhere,\n    and on which no sword of justice ever lights in this world. He does\n    not seem to have asked himself the question, If I am shooting and\n    hanging these maker of orphans; if I am punishing with stripes and\n    chains these sellers and buyers of human flesh, and doing it in the\n    name of truth and right, is the Great Judge of all to be denied His\n    right to use the sword of justice upon those who are beyond my\n    reach? Are nine-tenths of the evil-doers on earth not only to\n    escape the penalty of their crimes, but often and often to be\n    favoured reapers in the harvest of the world's success? You catch\n    the common robber, or the man who steals, perhaps through\n    starvation, penury, or through knowing no better, and you imprison\n    him for years or for life; and is the rich usurer who has wrung the\n    widow's farthing from her, is the fraudulent bankrupt, is the\n    unjust judge, is the cruel spoiler of war to pass from a world that\n    in millions and millions of cases gave them wealth and honours, and\n    stars and garters, instead of ropes and bars and gallows, to go\n    forthwith to free pardon, to everlasting light and endless rest\n    beyond the grave? It would indeed be strange justice that meted to\n    Jude and Judas the same measure of mercy in the final judgment.\"\n\nIt must be borne in mind that Gordon was not a trained theologian but\nan earnest Christian soldier. As his brother, Sir Henry Gordon, reminds\nus, he led a very lonely life, and consequently often lost opportunities\nof hearing both sides of a question. He might come across a book on one\nside, and thus adopt a certain set of views without hearing the\nopposite side. No man was more capable of forming a sound opinion, when\narguments _pro_ and _con_ were fairly laid before him, but his peculiar\nstyle of life often prevented him from doing justice to his own\njudgment.\n\nIf Gordon was likely to err in one direction more than another, it was\nin that of an exaggerated form of kindness. He had a tender, loving\nheart, which unduly influenced his judgment. It would be well for all\nstudents of God's Word if it could be said that their only failings\narose from exaggerated virtues. All have some weak points, and it would\nbe ridiculous to claim for Gordon immunity from error.\n\n    \"Find earth where grows no weed, and you may find\n    A heart wherein no error grows.\"\n\nNo writer would be doing justice to Gordon if he failed to deal with\nhis views on the subject of God's Sovereignty, for from the beginning\nto the end of his religious life he attached the greatest importance to\nthis doctrine. He was avowedly what is generally called a Calvinist,\nthough as a matter of fact he very seldom made use of the term. That\nsainted prelate, the late Bishop Waldegrave, when once he heard a young\nclergyman sneering at the doctrine which so frequently goes by the name\nof Calvinism, remarked: \"Young man, before you denounce Calvinism, take\ncare that you properly understand what the term means, or possibly you\nmay find yourself contending against some of God's truths.\" Now that it\nis so fashionable to denounce Calvinism, it is perhaps well to act on\nthe good bishop's advice, and see whether we thoroughly comprehend it,\nor whether all the time we are not contending with a creation of our\nown imagination which is but a caricature of the thing itself. Even\nFroude, the great historian, who, whatever else he is, is not a\nCalvinist, inquires how it is that Calvinistic doctrines have\n\"possessed such singular attractions for some of the greatest men who\nhave ever lived? If it be a creed of intellectual servitude, how was it\nable to inspire and sustain the hardest efforts ever made by man to\nbreak the yoke of unjust authority?\"\n\nOf course in Calvinism, as in the opposite doctrine, some have gone to\ngreat extremes and brought ridicule on the subject, but as Gordon's\nviews were strictly moderate, and eminently practical, it is not\nnecessary to consider to what extreme lengths some may go who differ\nfrom him on either side, nor is it necessary to consider all the\nrevolting doctrines which have been attributed to Calvin by his\nenemies, nor some of the things he may even have said in the heat of\nargument. Gordon was distinctly of the moderate school of Calvinists;\nhe believed that the heart of man was so corrupted by the Fall, that he\ncould not of his own accord turn to God, and that consequently in the\ncase of those who did turn, it must have been God's work, drawing the\nheart to Himself. He contended that to look at Christianity from the\nopposite standpoint, that of Human Responsibility, pandered to the\npride which is innate in the human heart. Thus the individual would be\nalways tempted to think that it was _his_ wisdom, _his_ foresight,\n_his_ strength, _his_ decision, or _his_ something, that made him\nclose with the offer of mercy, and so looking around him, and seeing\nmany going astray, he would be tempted to congratulate himself on _his_\nsuccess, when so many failed, and to fondly imagine that it was a case\nof the survival of the fittest. Once let the Christian grasp the actual\ntruth, and he is deprived of this element of self-glorification. His\ntitle to honour is removed by the thought that an exterior power,\nunknown to himself, drew him with the cords of love, or drove him with\nthe lash of fear. There are numerous passages in which Gordon expressed\nhimself on this subject, but perhaps the following states his views as\nwell as any:--\n\n    \"To accept the doctrine of man having no free will, he must\n    acknowledge his utter insignificance, for then no one is cleverer\n    or better than his neighbour; this must be always abhorrent to the\n    flesh. 'Have not I done this or that?' 'Had I naught to do with\n    it?' For my part, I can give myself no credit for anything I ever\n    did; and further, I credit no man with talents, &c. &c., in\n    anything he may have done. Napoleon, Luther, indeed all men, I\n    consider, were directly worked on, and directed to work out God's\n    great scheme. Tell me any doctrine which so humbles man as this, or\n    which is so contrary to his nature and to his natural pride.\"\n\nAlthough writers have often attempted to show that Gordon was an\nextreme Calvinist, there is no evidence that he ever stated his views\non the subject in any stronger language than that used in Article XVII.\nof the Prayer-Book of the Church of England, which says:--\"Predestination\nto life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the\nfoundations of the world were laid) He hath constantly decreed by His\ncounsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom He\nhath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to\neverlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour.\" However it may be\nwith others, Churchmen at all events have no right to sneer at Gordon's\nviews on the doctrine of God's Sovereignty, or Fatalism, as he more\nfrequently used to call it.\n\nNor did Gordon confine his views on Election merely to the initial\nstage of the Christian life; he believed that the same loving Father,\nwho in the first instance had drawn him into the fold, watched over\nhim, and ordained for him what was to happen. Some fatalists, seeing\nthat a certain thing is _likely_ to happen, say that God has ordained\nthat it shall be, and they fold their hands, and make no effort to\navert a catastrophe. Not so with Gordon; until the thing had actually\nhappened, he would exert all his powers to prevent it; but when he\nfailed to avert any impending trouble, he would find comfort in the\nthought that it was ordained by God, and would fret no more about it.\nIn a letter to his sister, he said:--\n\n    \"It is a delightful thing to be a fatalist, not as that word is\n    generally employed, but to accept that, _when things happen_ and\n    _not_ before, God has for some wise reason so ordained them. We\n    have nothing further to do, when the scroll of events is unrolled,\n    than to accept them as being for the best; but _before it is\n    unrolled_, it is another matter, for you would not say, 'I sat\n    still and let things happen.' With this belief all I can say is,\n    that amidst troubles and worries no one can have peace till he thus\n    stays upon his God--_that_ gives a superhuman strength.\"\n\nIt has been asserted that Gordon was very hard on the clergy, and that\nhe did not believe in a divinely appointed order of ministry. This has\nprobably arisen from certain statements of his that have appeared in a\ndisconnected form. Take the following passages from letters written at\ndifferent periods of his life:--\n\n    _From the Crimea._--\"We have a great deal to regret in the want of\n    good working clergymen, there being none here that I know of who\n    interest themselves about the men.\"\n\n    _From Gravesend._--\"The world's preachers and the world's religion\n    of forms and ceremonies are hard and cold, with no life in them,\n    nothing to cheer or comfort the broken-hearted. Explain, O\n    preachers, how it is that we ask and do not get comfort, that your\n    cold services cheer not. Is it not because ye speak to the flesh\n    which is at enmity to all that is spiritual and must die (joy is\n    only from the spirit)?... You preach death as an enemy instead of a\n    friend and liberator. You speak of Heaven, but belie your words by\n    making your home here. Be as uncharitable as you like, but attend\n    my church or chapel regularly.... Does your vast system of\n    ceremonies, meetings, and services tend to lessen sin in the world?\n    It may make men conceal it. Where would you find more hardness to a\n    fallen one than you would in a congregation of worshippers of the\n    Church of this day? Surely this hardness is of the devil, and they\n    who show it know not God.\"\n\n    _From the Soudan, April 20, 1876._--\"The sacerdotal class have\n    always abounded; they are allied with the temporal civil power, who\n    need their aid to keep the people quiet. 'By whose authority\n    teachest thou these things?' is their cry; from them alone must\n    come the authority.\"\n\n    _From Jaffa, July 11, 1883._--\"I believe the deadness in some of\n    the clergy is owing, firstly, to not reading the Scriptures;\n    secondly, to not meditating over them; thirdly, to not praying\n    sufficiently; fourthly, to being taken up with religious secular\n    work (Acts vi. 2-4). I wonder how it is that, when a subject of the\n    greatest import is brought up, one sees so very little interest\n    taken in it; and how willingly it is allowed to drop with a sort of\n    'Oh yes, I know all about that.'\"\n\nYet it is quite incorrect to say that Gordon undervalued the work of\nhard-working clergymen. He was of a critical turn of mind and used to\ncriticise their methods of working, but no one recognised more fully\nthan he did the good that was being done by many devoted workers, and\nthese he would of course exclude when administering blame for the\nshortcomings of the others. He had a way of speaking and writing in\ngeneral terms that might be a little misleading to those who do not\nunderstand him, but he always took it for granted, in his private\nletters to his sister, or to his intimate friends, that they would\nunderstand to whom he meant his words to apply. There are plenty of his\nstatements which show that he valued highly the ministry of some of the\nmore spiritually minded among the clergy. Those who preached the truth\nof the indwelling of God had in his opinion a great influence over\nthose to whom they ministered. Writing from South Africa on 5th June\n1882, he says:--\"Both clergymen here preach the great secret, the\nindwelling, but not as strongly as I could wish. Their churches are\nfull, while, where it is not preached, they are comparatively empty.\"\n\nIt would indeed quite misrepresent Gordon's views to say that he\nignored the work of the ministry as a body. He was one of those who\nbelieved that it was the duty of every one to be a labourer in the\nvineyard, whether he was ordained or not, and he himself set a noble\nexample in working for his Master. At the same time he never called in\nquestion the principle which the Bible, and also the Prayer-Book of the\nNational Church, recognise, that it is for the good of Christianity\nthat there should be a division of labour, and that, while all should\nbe workers, some should give themselves wholly to the work of the\nministry. Apparently, in Apostolic days, every one who was converted\nbecame a labourer, and there certainly was no hard-and-fast line of\ndemarcation between laymen and ministers. Perhaps we have gone too far\nin the other direction, and made too much distinction between lay and\nclerical workers, but it is only due to the National Church of this\ncountry to say, that this is the result of custom and of secular law,\nrather than of ecclesiastical law. Considering that the Prayer-Book was\nwritten or compiled by the clergy, it is wonderful how carefully they\navoided setting up undue claims, so as to magnify their own office.\nThere is indeed only one expression in the Prayer-Book to indicate that\nthe authors believed that the ministry was of Divine appointment, and\nthat is a sentence, occurring three times over in the Ordination\nService, which runs: \"Almighty God, who by Thy Divine Providence hast\nappointed divers orders of ministers in Thy Church, &c.\" This merely\nasserts that the Bible teaches that there were deacons and elders, or\nministers, in Apostolic days, and it is difficult to read the New\nTestament without recognising this fact. Certainly Gordon did not deny\nit. Indeed no body even of the Nonconformists does so except the\nPlymouth Brethren. Gordon's shrewd common sense showed him that, apart\nfrom any Divine sanction to the principle, there must be a division of\nlabour, there must be specialists in every department of life, and\nreligion was no exception to the general rule. Though he would resent\nthe pretentious claims of an exclusive ministry, he never opposed the\nprinciple of a scriptural ministry. He had friends who were in the\nministry, and he derived great benefits from their teaching.\n\nThe truth is that Gordon thought more of the man than he did of the\nprofession or calling. Shovel hats, wideawakes, long-tailed black\ncoats, and white ties were nothing to him. What he valued was the man\nwho was to be found beneath the clerical costume. Was he a true man, or\nwas he merely a professional hireling? Had he a heart to sympathise\nwith the sufferings of his fellow-creatures, and to help them to wage\nwar with sin and temptation? If so he would find a true friend in\nGordon; but it mattered little in his eyes what the external profession\nwas, if there was an absence of the internal reality. Gordon hated\neverything that was not genuine, and of all the shams in life the\nreligious one was to him the worst.\n\nIt is not a little interesting to note that while some considered him\nalmost a Plymouth Brother on the one hand, others have attributed to\nhim extreme party views in an opposite direction on the subject of the\nLord's Supper. It may not, therefore, be out of place to show exactly\nwhat his views were, for though apparently peculiar, they were\ncertainly not extreme. For many years he appears not to have given much\nthought to the subject of Holy Communion, but in 1880 the Rev. Horace\nWaller directed his attention to it, and after that time he took up the\nsubject very warmly, as the following passages will show:--\n\n    \"_December 4, 1880._--'This do in remembrance of _Me_.' I mean,\n    with God's blessing, to try and realise the truth that is in this\n    dying request. I hope I may be given to see the truth and comfort\n    to be derived from the Communion. I have in some degree seen it\n    must be a means of very great grace; but of this in the future. It\n    is a beautiful subject. Do not peck at words. Communion is better\n    than sacrament, but communion may exist without the eating of the\n    bread, &c. Sacrament means the performance of a certain act, which\n    is an outward and visible sign of spiritual grace. You need not\n    fear my leaving off this subject, it is far too engrossing to me,\n    and is extremely interesting.\"\n\n    \"_March 26, 1881._--I had looked forward to a Communion, but could\n    not go. I must confess to putting great (but _not salvation_)\n    strength on that Sacrament.\"\n\n    \"_February 18, 1882._--What a wonderful history! these thoughts of\n    eatings and sacraments. Eat in _distrust of God_, and _trust in\n    self_, and eat in _distrust of self_, and _trust in God_. It is\n    very wonderful, as is also that the analogy should be so hidden.\n    Eve knew no more what would happen to her by her eating, than we do\n    by our eating.\"\n\n    \"_January 10, 1883._--I hear that at my village the Greek-Russian\n    Church give the Lord's Supper to all who present themselves,\n    without query; they give it in both kinds--bread and wine, so I\n    shall go there. It is odd that no queries were asked when we\n    poisoned ourselves in Eden; but that, when we wish to take the\n    antidote, queries are asked. It is sufficient for me that the Greek\n    Church is Christian, and that they 'show forth the Lord's death\n    till He come.'\"\n\nBut though Gordon never adopted extreme views, or in any way\nexaggerated the benefits of that sacred meal to which all Christians\nattach importance, still, from the somewhat peculiar way in which he\nsometimes stated his views, they might be thought very fanciful. For\ninstance, he used to contend that as sin came into the world by eating,\nit was only natural that by \"eating, spiritually and actually, Christ\nwho is the Life,\" sin should be destroyed. \"I cannot repeat it too\noften, that as the body was poisoned by the eating of a fruit, so it\nmust be cured from its malady by absorbing an antidote. To the world\nthis is foolishness. I own it, but the wisdom of God is foolishness to\nman\" (_Observations on Holy Communion_, p. 12). In other words, the\nevil came in by eating, so the antidote to sin should come by the same\nmeans. Plainly stated, this does unquestionably sound somewhat\nfanciful; but then it must be remembered that Gordon was neither a\ntheologian nor a lawyer, and consequently he never studied accuracy of\ndefinition. The fact is, that many have completely misunderstood his\nviews for the simple reason that they have interpreted his words too\nliterally, and made no allowance for poetic imagination and figurative\nlanguage. There is a sense in which he was correct. No orthodox\nChristian doubts the fact that sin came into the world through our\nancestors eating the forbidden fruit. The antidote to sin is Christ,\nand for us to partake of the benefits of His death we must appropriate\nHim by faith, or, in other words, we must by faith feed on Him, which\nis the same as a spiritual participation. By \"eating,\" Gordon meant,\nnot the mere swallowing of the symbols, but the whole process of\nparticipation in the death of Christ. Every sound Christian theologian\nmust admit that this is necessary to salvation, and more than this\nGordon did not mean.\n\nIt is interesting to note that this independent searcher after truth\nwas by no means singular in his views, and that traces of them are to\nbe found in the works of Augustine and other patristic writings, which\npossibly he had never seen. One writer has remarked that in the garden\nof Eden the command was \"Eat not,\" and we know too well how that\ninjunction was disobeyed. When Christ, the antidote to sin, came, He\nbade His followers \"Take, eat,\" but with the perversity of human nature\nthat characterises fallen man, too often that command is also\nneglected.\n\nThere is another point to which reference should be made. When at\nKhartoum, Gordon wrote to a friend, \"There is no eating up here, which\nI miss.\" Some have contended that in this sentence he showed that he\nrecognised the necessity for the presence of a priest, to make the\nLord's Supper a valid ordinance. As a matter of fact, he never believed\nthat the presence of a clergyman was necessary for Holy Communion.\nThere were besides himself only two Englishmen at Khartoum during the\nsiege, and one of them was Power, a Roman Catholic, who, although a\ngreat admirer of Gordon, probably would, from early training, have had\nconscientious scruples about taking the Lord's Supper without the\npresence of a priest. The other Englishman was Colonel Stewart, who,\ndespite his friendship for Gordon, was not in sympathy with him in\nregard to religious matters. Had the three Englishmen been like-minded,\nthere can be no question that that sentence in Gordon's letter would\nnever have been written.\n\nThis is a subject that touches Christian men in the army and navy, as\nwell as in the merchant service, very closely. Frequently such men for\nmonths together never see a clergyman, and it would be absurd to say\nthat under such circumstances they must neglect the dying command of\ntheir Saviour.\n\nIt is told of three officers, who were great friends, that on the night\nbefore the battle of Waterloo, they agreed to partake together of the\nHoly Communion. The senior of them took an ordinary glassful of wine\nand some bread, and they knelt together, and asked God to bless the\nsacred rite. They rose, and the senior administered to each, using the\nbeautiful words of the Church of England Communion Service. They never\nmet together again on earth, but who can question the validity of that\nsacred meal, and who would dare to say that the ceremony would have\nbeen more acceptable to God if a clergyman had been present? The Bible\nnowhere asserts that the presence of a minister is necessary, and our\nNational Church has very wisely followed the example of the Bible. The\nChurch of Rome does teach that the presence of a priest is necessary to\nmake Holy Communion a valid ordinance. Our National Church, in common\nwith the various bodies of Nonconformists, recognises, as a matter of\necclesiastical order, that under ordinary circumstances, an officiating\nclergyman should be present. But his presence in no way affects the\nvalidity of the sacrament, being merely a wise precaution against the\nadmission of unworthy communicants. The laity surrender into the hands\nof the clergyman, or the minister aided by elders or deacons, their\npower of admitting or rejecting worthy or unworthy persons. But under\nabnormal circumstances, such as those in which Gordon was placed at\nKhartoum, ecclesiastical order would be suspended, and any two or three\nChristian laymen would have a perfect right to partake of the Holy\nCommunion in accordance with the Word of God. This is the view that\nChristian officers in the army and navy have always taken, and those\nwho were pained to think that Gordon gave his support to their\nopponents, may rest assured that no man contended more than he did for\nthat liberty which is the very essence of Christian teaching.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X\n\nAS GOVERNOR OF THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCE\n\n\nIt has already been mentioned that when Colonel Gordon was at Galatz he\nmet Nubar Pasha. In September 1873 Nubar asked him to enter the service\nof the Khedive of Egypt. While waiting to know whether the British\nGovernment would sanction this step he wrote home as follows:--\n\n    \"For some wise design God turns events one way or another, whether\n    man likes it or not, as a man driving a horse turns it to right or\n    left without consideration as to whether the horse likes that way\n    or not. To be happy, a man must be like a well-broken, willing\n    horse, ready for anything. Events will go as God likes. It is hard\n    to accept the position; the only solace is, it is not for long. If\n    I go to Egypt or not is uncertain; I hope He has given me the\n    strength not to care one way or the other; twenty years are soon\n    gone, and when over it will matter little whether I went or not.\"\n\nThe proposed step was sanctioned by the authorities, and so, at the age\nof forty-one, Gordon became the governor of the immense Equatorial\nProvince. _En route_ to Egypt he writes from Paris: \"I remember that\nGod has at all times worked by weak and small means. All history shows\nthis to be His mode, and so I believe if He will He may work by me.\"\n\nOf course some little time had to be spent in Cairo; the Khedive Ismail\nwas anxious to make the acquaintance of his new governor, and certain\npreliminaries had to be settled. Gordon had a suspicion that his\nappointment was a sham, and that he would not have the power he needed\nto suppress the slave trade. He was determined that _coute qui coute_\nhe would not be made a tool of to blind the European public, so at\nthe very outset he showed his colours, and let the Khedive clearly\nunderstand that he was not a mere hireling anxious to secure a\nwell-paid billet. As for his pay, though his predecessor had received\nL10,000 per annum, he decided to cut it down to L2000; for, as he said,\nthe whole would be wrung out of the unfortunate natives, who could ill\nafford the high taxation to which they were subjected. Writing home at\nthis juncture, he said:--\n\n    \"My object is to show the Khedive and his people that gold and\n    silver idols are not worshipped by all the world. They are very\n    powerful gods, but not so powerful as our God; so if I refuse a\n    large sum, you--and I am responsible to you alone--will not be\n    angry at my doing so. From whom does all the money come? From poor\n    miserable creatures who are ground down to produce it. Of course,\n    these ideas are outrageous. 'Pillage the Egyptians!' is still the\n    cry.\n\n    \"I am quite prepared not to go, and should not think it unkind of\n    God if He prevents it, for He must know what is best. The twisting\n    of men carries out some particular object of God, and we should\n    cheerfully agree now to what we will agree hereafter when we know\n    all things.\"\n\nHis characteristic outspokenness--a style of thing to which Egyptian\nofficials were not accustomed--somewhat alarmed a few of his friends,\nand on one occasion he was urged not to make an enemy of Nubar Pasha,\nwho was a very powerful minister, and could, it was said, do him a\ngreat deal of harm. At this Gordon fired up, and before those present\nsaid that he would like to see the man who was capable of injuring him.\nShakespeare has well said:--\n\n    \"What stronger breastplate than a heart untainted!\n    Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just,\n    And he but naked, though locked up in steel,\n    Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted.\"\n\nThough Nubar showed his powers of appreciation in recognising merit in\nColonel Gordon, when he met him at Galatz, there can be no question\nthat he little understood the honest, straightforward character of the\nman with whom he had to deal. He must have often wished that he had\nnever met Gordon, for, whilst the new governor was not a man to seek\noffice for the sake of the \"loaves and fishes,\" once in power he was\nnot one of those pliant characters who will act as mere dummies in the\nhands of others. Men with great strength of character, good abilities,\nand honest intentions are invaluable, when their official superiors are\ncapable of appreciating their merits; but when those under whom they\nserve have ulterior purposes to attain, weak, pliant natures make\nbetter servants for their purposes. In Colonel Gordon's own mind his\nmission at this time was to combat slavery, and in every possible way\nto ameliorate the sufferings of the unfortunate people over whom he was\ncalled to rule. Nubar Pasha held very different views from the\nnewly-appointed governor on many points that were likely to arise in\nconnection with these duties. The Soudan and the Equatorial Province\nwere so frightfully mismanaged and cruelly governed that, Gordon says,\n\"when Said Pasha, the Viceroy before Ismail, went up to the Soudan with\nCount F. Lesseps, he was so discouraged and horrified at the misery of\nthe people that at Berber the Count saw him throw his guns into the\nriver, declaring that he would be no party to such oppression. It was\nonly after the urgent solicitations of European consuls and others that\nhe reconsidered his decision.\"\n\nIt is quite amusing to see the efforts that were made at Cairo to break\nin the new governor, and to fit him for his post, in accordance with\nthe traditions of the country. As soon as everything was settled,\nGordon, with his usual promptness, and absence of all love of display,\nwas anxious to be off to his post of duty, and for that purpose to\nutilise the ordinary passenger steamer from Suez. But about states such\nas Egypt was before the British occupation, there is a strange mixture\nof reckless expenditure combined with paltry meanness. Although the\nEgyptian authorities once refused to pay the travelling expenses of an\nofficial travelling on duty from Alexandria to Cairo in connection with\nColonel Gordon, yet they insisted on this occasion that it would be\nunbecoming to the dignity of a governor to travel by an ordinary\nsteamer, so a special one was set apart for this purpose. Gordon\nafterwards calculated that had he been allowed his own way, he would at\nthe outset have saved at least L400! For the sake of peace he yielded\nthe point, and went from Cairo in a special train, and from Suez in a\nspecial steamer, accompanied by a large number of useless servants. He\nhad his revenge, however, for owing to an engine getting off the line,\nthere was a long halt, and finally he had to proceed by the ordinary\ntrain. Gordon was a remarkable instance of the general rule, that the\ngreater the ability of a man the less affection has he for display, and\nfor all the official trappings of office. The only display that Gordon\never cared for was that of intrinsic merit and hard work, and these\nqualities he always looked for in his subordinates.\n\nColonel Gordon reached Suakim on February 25th, 1874, and writing home,\nhe records his impressions of Cairo and its officials. \"I think the\nKhedive likes me, but no one else does; and I don't like them, I mean\nthe swells, whose corns I tread on in all manner of ways. Duke of This\nwants steamer, say L600. Duke of That wants house, &c. All the time the\npoor people are ground down to get money for all this. 'Who art thou to\nbe afraid of man?' If He wills, I will shake all this in some way not\nclear to me now. Do not think I am an Egoist; I am like Moses who\ndespised the riches of Egypt. I will not bow to Haman.\" Little did he\nthen foresee that before eight years had passed British guns would be\nshaking the stronghold of Alexandria, and that 10,000 Egyptian soldiers\nwould yield the citadel of Cairo to a small force of some 300 troops\ncarrying the British flag. From Suakim he went on a camel to Berber,\nand thence by steamer to Khartoum, the first time he ever visited a\nplace which now can never be mentioned without awakening in the mind\nassociations of this noble servant of God, who feared neither man nor\ndevil.\n\nAt first Gordon was to a certain extent subordinate to the\nGovernor-General of the Soudan, through whom he had to get supplies.\nBut by September 8th he was enabled to write: \"I have now entirely\nseparated my province from that of the Soudan. When I came up I had\ninstructions to ask for all I wanted from the Governor-General of\nKhartoum, who was ordered to supply me. Now this was from the first a\nfruitful source of quarrel, and must have been so, for I could not be\ncontinually writing to the Khedive about the non-supply of things and\nmoney; it would have worn me and every one out. Now I am quite\nindependent, raise my own revenue, and administer it, and send the\nresidue to Cairo, which residue is all they care for there.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nThe Equatorial Province lies considerably to the south of Khartoum, and\nis bisected by the Nile. As a matter of fact, the equator does not run\nthrough any part of the province, though the southern part comes very\nclose to it, just touching the Victoria Nyanza, through the north of\nwhich the equator runs. The hold that Egypt had at any time on this\nprovince was indeed very slight, and considering how little capable she\nwas of managing even her own affairs, it does seem ridiculous in the\nextreme that she should ever have attempted to annex an enormous\ncountry outside her borders. When Egypt was really strong and powerful,\nas in olden times, it does not appear that she ever held territory\nbeyond Wady Haifa, and it is in reality only within this century,\nduring the whole of which Egypt has been weak, that she has extended\nher territory down to the equator. Far from gaining either money or\nprestige, she has lost greatly by her annexations. Had the Nile, which\nis the only highway, been easily navigable for ships of any size,\npossibly the tide of civilisation might have gone south as well as\nnorth, and the history of these provinces might have been very\ndifferent. But the Nile is full of rapids, or cataracts, as they are\ncalled, and at certain seasons of the year is absolutely impassable for\nlarge boats, while the paucity of wells makes regular travel by land\nimpossible. From Khartoum to Gondokoro, which was the capital of\nColonel Gordon's new province, a distance of about 1000 miles, another\nobstacle presents itself, in the form of an almost impassable barrier,\nknown as a \"sudd,\" which forms on the river, and puts a stop to\ntraffic. Gordon said that the sudd is formed by an \"aquatic plant with\nroots extending five feet in the water. The natives burn the top parts,\nwhen dry; the ashes form mould, and fresh grasses grow till it becomes\nlike _terra firma_. The Nile rises, and floats out the masses; they\ncome down to a curve and then stop. More of these islands float down,\nand at last the river is blocked. Though under them the water flows, no\ncommunication can take place, for they bridge the river for several\nmiles.\"\n\nGordon left Khartoum on March 23, 1874, for Gondokoro, and on the 26th\nhe writes: \"Last night we were going along slowly in the moonlight, and\nI was thinking of you all, and the expedition, and Nubar, &c., when all\nof a sudden from a large bush came peals of laughter. I felt put out;\nbut it turned out to be birds, who laughed at us from the bushes for\nsome time in a rude way. They are a species of stork, and seemed in\ncapital spirits, and highly amused at anybody thinking of going up to\nGondokoro with the hope of doing anything.\" Gordon was full of hope,\nand very sanguine of success; but from the day when he reached Cairo,\ncroakers all along the route had been whispering in his ear the\nhopelessness of his mission, and how utterly impossible it was to\nreform anything connected with such a corrupt administration as that of\nEgypt. Fortunately, though he used at times to have terrible fits of\ndepression, he possessed a great deal of dogged perseverance. It was\nthis that in China had enabled him to overcome all obstacles in\nfighting the enemy, and the same indomitable spirit now made him\npersevere and hope on, when every one else despaired. Not only were\nthere real foes in every direction, determined if possible to frustrate\nhis mission, but in addition there was physical suffering to endure\nfrom climatic and other causes. \"No one can conceive,\" says he in a\nletter written on April 10th, \"the utter misery of these lands, heat\nand mosquitoes day and night all the year round. But I like the work,\nfor I believe that I can do a great deal to ameliorate the lot of the\npeople.\" Two days after this he passed through a place called St.\nCroix, which had been a Roman Catholic mission station, but so\nunhealthy was it that it had at last been abandoned. After thirteen\nyears of work not a single convert had been made, although during that\nperiod the missionaries had plodded on in the face of discouragement,\nand in spite of the appalling havoc that death and sickness had made in\ntheir ranks. Out of twenty missionaries thirteen had died of fever, two\nof dysentery, and two had been invalided. A few banana trees were all\nthat remained of the settlement at which these heroes had been\nsacrificed.\n\nGordon reached Gondokoro on April 16th, just twenty-four days after\nleaving Khartoum. Everybody was much surprised to see him, for it was\nnot even known that he had been appointed. He remained only six days,\nand then started back to Khartoum, in order to get his baggage. Not\nfinding it there, he went on to Berber to hurry up the escort, but not\ntill he had given the corrupt Governor of Khartoum a bit of his mind.\n\"I have had some sharp skirmishing with the Governor-General of\nKhartoum,\" said he in a letter home, \"and I think I have crushed him.\nYour brother wrote to him and told him he told _stories_. It was\nundiplomatic of me, but it did the Governor-General good.\" Having\nsecured his baggage, he returned to Gondokoro. _En route_ he writes\nfrom the entrance of the Sanbat River:--\n\n    \"We arrived here from Khartoum a week ago, and I have made a nice\n    station here, and made great friends with the Shillock natives, who\n    come over in great numbers from the other side of the river. They\n    are poorly off, and I have given them some grain; very little\n    contents them. I have employed a few of them to plant maize, and\n    they do it very fairly. The reason they do not do it for themselves\n    is, that if they plant any quantity they would run the chance of\n    losing it, by its being taken by force from them; so they plant\n    only enough to keep body and soul together, and even that is sown\n    in small out-of-the-way patches.\"\n\nHe reached Gondokoro the second time on September 4th, receiving the\nsalaams and salutes of the officers, men, and functionaries, together\nwith the submission of all the neighbouring chiefs. In the whole of his\nprovince Egypt had only two forts, one at Gondokoro, the capital, with\n300 men, and one at Fatiko, further south, with 200 men. \"As for paying\ntaxes,\" said he, \"or any government existing outside the forts, it is\nall nonsense. You cannot go out in any safety half-a-mile, all because\nthey have been fighting the poor natives and taking their cattle. I\napprehend not the least difficulty in the work; the greatest will be to\ngain the people's confidence again. They have been hardly treated.\"\n\nThe chief culprit, to whom much of this misgovernment was due, was\nRaouf Bey, whom Gordon found at Gondokoro. This man had been in office\nfor six years, and proved a miserable failure. \"Raouf had never\nconciliated the tribes, never had planted dhoora; and, in fact, only\npossessed the land he camped upon.\" Yet he made it a grievance that\nGordon refused to employ him, and the present Khedive of Egypt many\nyears afterwards made him Governor-General of the Soudan when Gordon\nresigned.\n\nWhat most astonished Gordon was the apparent want of affection on the\npart of the natives for their offspring, and it pained him none the\nless when he reflected that this was entirely due to the slave trade,\nand the sufferings the poor people had endured. One man brought Gordon\ntwo of his children of 12 and 9 years old, because they were starving,\nand sold them for a basketful of grain, and though the father often\ncame to the station after this, he never asked to see them. Gordon\nmentioned another case, of a family in which there were two children.\nPassing their hut one day, and seeing only one child, he asked the\nmother where the other was. \"Oh,\" said she, \"it has been given to the\nman from whom the cow was stolen\"--her husband having been the culprit.\nThis was said with a cheerful smile. \"But,\" said Gordon, \"are you not\nsorry?\" \"Oh, no! we would rather have the cow.\" \"But you have eaten the\ncow, and the pleasure is over.\" \"Oh, but all the same, we would sooner\nhave had the cow!\" Gordon adds, \"The other child of twelve years old,\nlike her parents did not care a bit. A lamb taken from the flock will\nbleat, while here you see not the very slightest vestige of feeling.\"\nSuch an incident shows how the human heart can, under certain\ncircumstances, degenerate to being \"without natural affection.\" It is\nnot the people who are to blame, but their cruel conquerors. Not many\nmiles away from this place, in a district which the tyranny of slavery\nhas not yet reached, Dr. Schweinfurth says of the natives:\n\"Notwithstanding that certain instances may be alleged which seem to\ndemonstrate that the character of the Dinka is unfeeling, these cases\nnever refer to such as are bound by the ties of kindred. Parents do not\ndesert their children, nor are brothers faithless to brothers, but are\never prompt to render whatever aid is possible.\" The famous negro\nprelate, Bishop Crowther, and the celebrated traveller, Mr. Stanley,\nbear similar testimony. There can be no question that the African, in\nhis normal condition, is as capable of affection as the native of any\nother country.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nSlavery has been, is, and as long as it exists will be, the curse of\nAfrica. \"Not a soul,\" said Gordon, \"to be seen for miles; all driven\noff by the slavers in years past. You could scarcely conceive such a\nwaste or desert.\" Such was his comment when at the entrance of the\nriver Sanbat, and such would have frequently been a correct description\nof the country blighted by this cursed traffic.\n\nSpeaking generally, slavery exists now only in Mohammedan countries\n(though there are a few exceptions), yet it cannot be called a\nMohammedan institution. The Prophet sanctioned only the taking of\nslaves in war. The custom of his time was to kill and often to torture\nprisoners taken in war, so that really it was a step in advance to\nsuggest that these captives should be utilised as servants. To a great\nextent, if not entirely, slavery as an institution is due to the low\nmoral standard set up by the Koran. Were it not for love of sensual\nindulgence, slavery would long ago have died a natural death. Over and\nover again has it been proved that voluntary service is far cheaper\nthan enforced labour. An Indian coolie will work all day, and ask for\nlittle more than enough to keep body and soul together. This much the\nslave-owners are compelled to give to keep their slaves in health.\nSlaves are valuable property, and it is cheaper to feed them well than\nbadly. But over and above the food, the slave-owner has to bear the\ncost of transit from their bright happy homes in Central Africa,\nthrough hundreds of miles of scorching desert, which demands a\nfrightful death-toll. Only the strongest ever reach the slave-markets,\nand it has been calculated that at least 500,000 lives are annually\nsacrificed during transit. Indirectly the slave-owner has to pay for\nthese. When slaves were taken in war, they cost nothing to transport;\nbut when Mohammedan conquests ceased, the supply ceased with it, for\nMohammedans are not allowed by the Koran to make slaves of men of their\nown creed, though they do sometimes infringe this rule.\n\nIt is generally supposed that the slave trade originated in the fact\nthat in certain parts of Central Africa there are no horses or beasts\nof burden, as owing to the existence of the tetse-fly no animal can\nlive. Consequently ivory and everything else has to be carried on the\nheads of porters. These porters were engaged by the Arab ivory dealers\nin the interior, and marched in large gangs to the seaports. Having\nreached their destination, and given up their loads, the question of\ntransport back to their villages would arise. The Arab traders found\nthat it would suit their purpose best to sell the porters as slaves.\nWho was to know whether or not they were taken in battle? In Mohammedan\ncountries, so long as plenty of backsheesh is forthcoming, those in\nauthority ask few questions. Soon the sale of slaves became more\nprofitable than the ivory trade, which possibly had originated it, and\nso the one was substituted for the other, the authorities not only\nwinking at it, but encouraging it as a source of large revenues to\nthem. At one time a large number of so-called Christians were engaged\nin this unholy traffic, but the scandal became so great that European\npublic opinion would not tolerate it, and so they had to sell their\nstations to Mohammedan Arabs, who if possible were even more cruel and\nrelentless in the way they conducted the trade. Merchant princes arose\namong them, and they carried on their business with a thoroughness and\na system worthy of a better cause. Soldiers were trained, and large\narmies kept for no other purpose than that of collecting slaves.\nPeaceful villages were surrounded, night attacks were made, whole\ntribes were marched off to the slave markets, the road being lined by\ngrinning skulls to show the way in which the victims suffered _en\nroute_.\n\n                              \"Not for this\n    Was common clay ta'en from the common earth,\n    Moulded by God, and tempered with the tears\n    Of angels, to the perfect shape of man!\"\n\nThe unfortunate captives were chained together to prevent escape, and\noften the fastenings were secured in a way so unnecessarily cruel, that\nthey had great difficulty in securing any sleep, either at night or\nduring the day when the periodical halts were made. Indeed the ordinary\nprecautions that we take in the convoy of large herds of cattle were\ngenerally neglected. This is all the more surprising when we consider\nwhat great trouble these men took to secure their victims; one would\nhave thought that self-interest at least would often have dictated a\nmore humane policy, but it does not appear to have been so.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nIn hunting for these gangs of slaves, it was a subject of deep regret\nto Gordon that often his action only tended to increase their\nsufferings. In the Central African deserts there are only a few wells,\nat long intervals, and the poor captives suffered terrible thirst on\nthe march from well to well. But the surest way of intercepting the\ngangs was to hold the wells. When the slave-dealers knew that a certain\nwell on which they were marching was held by Gordon, they would make a\ndetour in order to avoid him, and their unfortunate victims would be\nkept from quenching their thirst for unusually long periods, with the\nresult that many would succumb to the appalling heat. If a slave\nexhibited great exhaustion, and showed little chance of being able to\nreach the next halting-place, the drivers would not even trouble to\nwaste a round of ammunition, but, unchaining the victim, would kill him\nby a blow on the back of the neck with a mallet or a piece of wood, and\nleave his body where it lay, to feed the vultures. Often young girls,\nand even infants, were marched through deserts, through which Gordon\ndeclared that he shuddered to contemplate a journey on his fleet-footed\ncamel. It was with truth that Burns said--\n\n    \"Man's inhumanity to man\n    Makes countless thousands mourn.\"\n\nSome of the slave traders had become very rich, and one of them, Zebehr\nRahama, now in captivity in Gibraltar, had become so powerful that even\nthe Khedive dared not molest him. His field of operations lying at a\nconsiderable distance from Gordon's province, these two did not come in\ncontact, until the latter was made Governor-General of the whole of the\nSoudan, and so it is not at the present time necessary to do more than\nmerely allude to him as the king of slave hunters. Many more carried on\na successful business, and some of them conducted their operations in\nthe Equatorial Province; and it is hardly necessary to say that the\nfirst thing the new governor did was to break up the organisations of\nthese men. He was only appointed in Cairo during the month of February,\nand after that time he had to spend many weary days and nights in\ntravelling. But in June we find him seizing an Arab dealer named\nNassar, at the head of a large convoy of slaves, and casting him into\nprison. By this brilliant stroke he not only got possession of a\nwell-known culprit, but struck terror into the hearts of smaller\ndealers. But, as in the case of the Taiping rebels, whom he at once\nturned into soldiers to fight for him, so Nassar was enlisted into his\nservice. \"Do you know,\" he wrote, \"I have forgiven the head slaver\nNassar, and am employing him; he is not worse than others, and these\nslavers have been much encouraged to do what they have done. He is a\nfirst-rate man, and does a great deal of work. He was in prison for two\nweeks, and was then forgiven.\" Other quotations could be made from his\nletters showing that he had formed a high opinion of the abilities of\nthe Arabs engaged in slave dealing, with a correspondingly low one of\nthe Egyptian soldiers who were employed to put them down. The Arabs\nwere enterprising, plucky fellows, with the spirit of a man in them,\nwhereas the soldiers were a cowardly and contemptible lot. When in\nlarge numbers, they used to ill-treat and bully the natives, who\nconsequently took every opportunity of retaliating. Gordon, with his\nquick perception, saw that the best way to remedy this was to scatter\nthe soldiers about in small detachments, just strong enough to defend\ntheir posts, but not to take advantage of the people:--\n\n    \"I have the garrisons small on purpose to make them keep awake; and\n    it has its effect, for they are all in a fearful fright along the\n    line. I cannot help feeling somewhat of a malicious enjoyment of\n    their sufferings. If I personally am at any station, even if there\n    are thirty or forty men there, the sentries all go to sleep in\n    comfort. Not so in my absence; every one is awake, I expect. Having\n    nothing to do--or rather not doing anything, though there is plenty\n    to be done--they sit and talk over the terrors of their position,\n    until they tremble again. I never in the course of my life saw such\n    wretched creatures dignified by the name of soldiers. Fortunately,\n    though I can do the work of the province without an interpreter, I\n    cannot speak to the men except by my looks, or tell them my opinion\n    in words, though my letters are pretty strong.\"\n\nThe results of this policy were excellent. Not only were the garrisons\nkept on the alert and prevented from oppressing the people, but the\ncountry was opened up and travelling rendered safer. Writing home,\nGordon says:--\n\n    \"It is such a comfort having my roads open. One man came down from\n    Bedden to-day alone. Before I came it would have needed thirty or\n    at least twenty men to go along this route. The blacks would have\n    concealed themselves in the grass, and stuck a spear into the\n    hinder-most man; now they are quite friendly. A Bari in my\n    employment stole a sheep yesterday, and down came the natives to\n    complain and have justice, which they got. Is it not comfortable?\n    All this has effected a great change among my men. They no longer\n    fear the blacks as they did, and altogether a much better feeling\n    exists. Going up to Kerri, where in September last the convoy of\n    Kemp was harassed all the route, I went on alone with four or five\n    soldiers behind me, and never felt the least apprehension; for the\n    natives talk much amongst themselves, and the virgin tribes had\n    heard we were not to be feared, and that their cattle was safe from\n    pillage. A year ago an escort of five or six soldiers used to\n    accompany each nuggar either coming up or down. Even the steamers\n    carried an escort of the same number. Now not one soldier either\n    goes with one or the other. This has prevented all pillaging _en\n    route_, for our people dare not do it now, not having the escort\n    of soldiers.\"\n\nIn spite of his contempt for the soldiers under him, he treated them\nkindly and made great efforts to improve them. Now and then he would\ngive them a magic-lantern lecture, and in other ways try to benefit\nthem mentally and morally. No doubt in this he succeeded to a great\nextent, and at all events he had the satisfaction of feeling that he\nwas liked by them. In another letter he says:--\n\n    \"The men and officers like my justice, candour, and my outbursts of\n    temper, and see that I am not a tyrant. Over two years we have\n    lived intimately together, and they watch me closely. I am glad\n    that they do so. My wish and desire is that all should be as happy\n    as it rests with me to make them, and though I feel sure that I am\n    unjust sometimes, it is not the rule with me to be so. I care for\n    their marches, for their wants and food, and protect their women\n    and boys if they ill-treat them; and I do nothing of this. I am a\n    chisel which cuts the wood; the Carpenter directs it. If I lose my\n    edge, He must sharpen me; if He puts me aside and takes another, it\n    is His own good will. None are indispensable to Him; He will do His\n    work with a straw equally as well.\"\n\nGordon had not been long in his province when he saw that the only\neffectual way to abolish slavery was to open up the country, and\nencourage traders by making it safe for them to travel about. Much as\nhe did personally to punish slave-hunting, and to break up gangs of men\nso engaged, he always considered that his best efforts should be\ndevoted to the opening up of the country for trade. At the time he was\nthere, and now also, the leading men were all more or less engaged in\nslave-hunting, and no one dared to say a word against them. Gordon\nwanted to introduce an independent class of traders, who would soon be\nsufficiently powerful to give evidence against the leaders of the\nslave-hunting system. His desire afterwards to serve the King of the\nBelgians in the Congo territory was with the object of developing\ntrade, and thus ultimately of preventing slave-dealing. With regard to\nEgypt, he formed his ideas during the first year he was in the country,\nand he steadily adhered to them to the end. Writing from Tultcha, on\n17th November 1873, he says:--\n\n    \"I believe if the Soudan was settled, the Khedive would prevent the\n    slave trade; but he does not see his way to do so till he can move\n    about the country. My ideas are to open it out by getting the\n    steamers on to the lakes, by which time I should know the promoters\n    of the slave trade and could ask the Khedive to seize them.\" And\n    again: \"God has allowed slavery to go on for so many years; born in\n    the people, it needs more than an expedition to eradicate it; open\n    out the country, and it will fall of itself.\"\n\nThough he was not permitted during his life to see much permanent\nresult from his arduous labours, yet far from his efforts having been\nin vain, he it was who revived in Europe an interest in the subject,\nand conclusions arrived at by the recent Anti-Slavery Conference, at\nBrussels, clearly indicate that the more thoughtful philanthropists who\nare moving in the matter recognise that the lines he laid down are the\nright ones to follow. The number of years that he was permitted to\ndevote to this struggle with slavery were not many, but the seeds were\nsown which will bring forth a rich harvest in the future. In that noble\ncrusade, which he undertook single-handed against tyranny and\noppression, he supplied the best possible answer to the cynic's\nquestion whether or not life is worth living:--\n\n    \"Is Life worth living? Yes, so long\n      As there is wrong to right,\n    Wail of the weak against the strong,\n      Or tyranny to fight;\n    Long as there lingers gloom to chase\n      Or streaming tear to dry,\n    One kindred woe, one sorrowing face,\n      That smiles as we draw nigh.\"[7]\n\n      [7] Mr. Alfred Austin in the _English Illustrated Magazine_.\n\nNot only had Gordon to contend with the slave trade, corrupt officials,\nan unsympathetic government at Cairo, and incompetent troops, but to\nadd to his troubles his staff broke down with sickness and even death,\nwhile he for the first time in his life suffered from ague and liver\ndisorders. Here are descriptions of the climate from some of his\nletters:--\n\n    \"This is a horrid climate. I seldom, if ever, get a good sleep. It\n    is a very great comfort to feel that God will rectify one's defects\n    in this life, and make right all mistakes, also that He governs\n    everything. Is it my present temperament, or is it truly the case\n    that things go untowardly more in this land than anywhere else? You\n    wrap up an article in paper, the paper is sure to tear, the string\n    you least want to be broken is broken; every, _every_ thing seems\n    to go wrong. It may be my liver which makes me think this, but it\n    has been the same with all travellers.\" ... \"The mosquitoes are\n    horrible here; the proboscis is formed like a bayonet, with a hinge\n    at the bend; they turn it down for perforation and press on it with\n    their head, muscles, and chest. I am very susceptible of their bite\n    or dig; the least touch of the 'bayonet' makes a lump.\"\n\n    ... \"Variety is pleasing! Got away from mosquitoes to find\n    sand-flies and harvest-bugs instead. However, they are quiet by\n    day, and here there are no flies with irritating feet. There must\n    be some wonderful mystery about this life. Why should these\n    countries be so full of annoyances to man? Why should even the\n    alighting of a fly, _his footprints_, cause such irritation to the\n    skin. It must be for some good object eventually to be made known\n    to us.\"\n\nMost of Gordon's efforts were directed to the abolition of slavery, and\nthe amelioration of the sufferings of the people he governed, but as an\nexplorer and a surveyor he also did good work, and he might, had he\ncared for such distinctions, have received honours from the Royal\nGeographical Society. Though suffering a good deal from sickness and\nfrom mental worries, he endeavoured to explore the seventy miles of\ncountry between Foweira and the Albert Nyanza. In one of his letters he\nsays:--\n\n    \"It was contended that the Nile did not flow out of Lake Victoria\n    and thence into Lake Albert and so northward, but that one river\n    flowed out of Lake Victoria and another out of Lake Albert; and\n    that these two rivers united and formed the Nile. This statement\n    could not be positively denied, inasmuch as no one had actually\n    gone along the river from Foweira to Hagungo. So I went along it\n    with much suffering, and settled the question.\"\n\nAs he did not personally come into contact with M'tesa, the King of\nUganda, it is not necessary to do more than mention the fact that this\nstrange monarch wrote a letter to him, and even asked him to plant a\nstockade for his troops within Uganda territory. Gordon, however, did\nnot trust M'tesa, and at one time, on account of some misbehaviour on\nthe part of that monarch, even contemplated attacking him. But Mr.\nStanley, the great explorer, sent a vigorous protest against any\naggression on the part of a Christian representative, even of a Moslem\nGovernment, towards a newly Christianised state, if one may apply that\nterm to Uganda. Gordon evidently recognised the wisdom of Stanley's\ncontention, for the attack was never made, and Stanley received from\nGordon a letter giving him much information.\n\nGordon reached Lake Albert at the end of July 1876, and from then till\nhe left to return home he was busily engaged in surveying the country,\nwading through rivers, cutting his way through dense jungles,\nencountering natives armed with assegais, and in other ways risking his\nvaluable life, all for the sake of his fellow-creatures, and in the\nhope of ultimately opening up the country. Was there ever a man more\nstrongly actuated by the spirit of altruism?\n\nHis three years were drawing to a close, and not having received the\nsupport he thought he deserved, he decided to leave the service of the\nKhedive. On October 6th he commenced his journey, and by Christmas Eve\nof that year he had reached England.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI\n\nGOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE SOUDAN\n\n\nColonel Gordon's visit to England was a very short one, for no sooner\ndid the Khedive Ismail realise the fact that such an able public\nservant had definitely decided to quit his service, than he wrote\nimploring him to return on his own terms, which were nothing less than\nthat he should be invested with the Governor-Generalship of the whole\nSoudan, including the Equatorial Province, over which he had for three\nyears ruled. The Khedive was sufficiently wide awake to know what an\nable, conscientious servant he had in Gordon, and, cost what it might,\nwas determined not to lose him. The truth of the matter was that Gordon\nhad made himself indispensable to the Khedive, and when a man does that\nhe may practically demand his own terms. His heart was thoroughly in\nthe work, and the only reason for his having resigned was that he was\ndisgusted with Ismail Yacoob, the Governor-General of the Soudan, who,\nalthough Gordon was not under him, was from his position in many ways\nable to hamper his reforms. The Khedive wisely decided to recall Ismail\nYacoob from Khartoum, and to put Colonel Gordon in his place. \"Setting\na just value,\" wrote the Khedive, \"on your honourable character, on\nyour zeal, and on the great services that you have already done me, I\nhave resolved to bring the Soudan, Darfour, and the provinces of the\nEquator, into one great province, and to place it under you as\nGovernor-General. As the country which you are thus to govern is so\nvast, you must have beneath you three vakeels (or deputy governors):\nthe first for the Soudan properly so called, the second for Darfour,\nand the third for the shores of the Red Sea and the Eastern Soudan.\"\nThus, at the age of forty-four, Gordon had committed to his charge the\nabsolute control, including power over life and death, over a province\nas large as France, Germany, and Spain together! He had already served\nthe Khedive for three years in the unhealthy Equatorial Province, and\nnow he was to govern for nearly three years more this larger and still\nmore unwieldy province, his reign only ceasing with the abdication of\nIsmail.\n\nWhen Gordon left England for Cairo, the appointment had not been\nconferred upon him. He merely went out to see the Khedive, and it was\nnot till February 13, 1877, that the matter was finally decided.\nWriting home in reference to the Khedive's kindness, he quotes that\ntext, \"Ask of me, and I will give thee to the half of my kingdom,\" and\nthen he goes on to say:--\n\n    \"And now for the reverse of the medal. It is the sacrifice of a\n    _living_ life. To give your life to be taken at once, is one\n    thing; to give a life such as is before me is another and more\n    trying ordeal. I have set my face to the work, and will give my\n    life to it. I feel as if I had nought to do with the Government.\n    God must undertake the work.... I think how many would be weighed\n    down by this immense charge; how they would shrink from accepting\n    it without some other help, for fear of their reputation. But for\n    me, I never gave the question a thought. I feel sure of success;\n    for I do not lean on my own understanding, and He directs my path.\"\n\nOn March 19th he writes with regard to his grand escort:--\n\n    \"Here I met two hundred cavalry and infantry, who had come to meet\n    us. I am most carefully guarded--at six yards' radius round the\n    tree where I am sitting are six or eight sentries, and the other\n    men are in a circle round them. Now, just imagine this, and put\n    yourself in my position. However, I know they will all go to sleep,\n    so I do not fret myself. I can say truly, no man has ever been so\n    forced into a high position as I have. How many I know to whom the\n    incense would be the breath of their nostrils. To me it is irksome\n    beyond measure. Eight or ten men to help me off my camel! as if I\n    were an invalid. If I walk, every one gets off and walks; so,\n    furious, I get on again.\"\n\nAfter being appointed Governor-General of the Soudan, the first thing\nColonel Gordon did was to attempt to bring about a definite peace\nbetween the Khedive and the King of Abyssinia, whose territory adjoins\nthe Soudan. It will be remembered that in the year 1868 an English\nexpedition, under the late Lord (then Sir Robert) Napier, went against\nTheodore, King of Abyssinia, to punish him for imprisoning and\nill-treating British subjects. Being defeated, that monarch committed\nsuicide. Before his defeat, as he was much hated, some of his\nchieftains had broken into open revolt, and one of them had proclaimed\nhimself king of a certain province. Sir Robert Napier presented this\nchieftain with four guns and a thousand rifles, and this recognition on\nthe part of the conquerors enabled the chief in question to mount the\nAbyssinian throne, taking for himself the name of Johannis.\n\nIn 1874 a Swiss adventurer, who was at that time governor of Massowah,\nunder the Khedive, seized Bogos, a piece of territory belonging to\nAbyssinia, and held it for his master, at the same time urging him to\nadd another province, that of Hamacen, to his ill-gotten gains. At this\ntime the Khedive was rich, having just received L4,000,000 from the\nBritish Government for the Suez Canal shares, and instead of spending\nthe money in developing the resources of the territory he already\npossessed, he was ill advised enough to go to war, and got defeated.\nForemost among the Abyssinians in the conflict was Walad el Michael,\nthe hereditary prince of Bogos and Hamacen, who before the war was\nimprisoned for having sought the aid of Napoleon III. against the\nAbyssinian king. He was released at the commencement of hostilities,\nand proved very successful. But, having defeated the Egyptians, Walad\ngot disgusted with the Abyssinian king for depriving him of his share\nof the spoils of war, and consequently, when the Egyptians in 1876\nsought to avenge their defeat, Walad turned against his own king. The\nEgyptians were however again defeated, 9000 of them being killed, and\nan enormous number taken prisoners. The spoils of war were great, for\nall the Egyptian tents, twenty-five guns, 10,000 rifles, and a large\namount of English gold, were captured by the Abyssinians. So ignorant\nwere they of the value of this spoil, that they mistook English\nsovereigns for brass counters, and thirty of them were sold for four\ndollars! The Abyssinian king was so incensed at the conduct of Walad,\nwho had 7000 men and 700 rifles, that, as one of the conditions of\npeace, he demanded that the Khedive should give him up. This of course\nthe Khedive could not do, and a long delay followed, during which the\nAbyssinian monarch sent an envoy to Cairo. But the Khedive treated the\nenvoy badly, and he, rightly or wrongly, imagined that his life was in\ndanger. He managed to get away, and the ill-feeling between the two\nmonarchs was intense when Colonel Gordon arrived on the scene. Just at\nthis time the great bulk of the Egyptian troops were required for the\nTurkish war against the Russians, and Gordon was left helpless, as he\nhad not sufficient force with him to compel Walad to cease his\nintermittent attacks on Abyssinia.\n\nSeeing the hopelessness of his position, Gordon decided to waste no\nmore time over the question, more especially as he had not yet been to\nKhartoum, the capital of his huge province, to take up his duties, and\nall the time there was a revolt going on in Darfour, on the extreme\nwest of his dominion. Having once made up his mind, he lost no time in\ngetting to Khartoum, leaving Walad to be dealt with at his leisure\nlater on. On reaching Khartoum, which he did by travelling forty-five\nmiles a day in the extremely hot months of April and May, he had to\nsubmit to the ordeal of installation. It was on this occasion, after\nthe firman had been read and the royal salute had been fired, that he\nmade the memorable speech which so delighted the people, and which may\nbe summed up in one sentence that he made use of, \"With the help of God\nI will hold the balance level.\" By this he meant to say, that as long\nas he was Governor-General there should be none of the cruel, grinding\ntyranny that had existed in the time of his predecessor. It may be well\nhere, anticipating events, to illustrate the desperate condition of the\npeople under the tyranny of the Egyptian rule. Mr. Frank Power,\ncorrespondent of the _Times_, in a private letter to his mother in the\nyear 1884, describes the way in which the poor people were ground down\nwith taxation. He says:--\n\n    \"Every Arab must pay a tax for himself, children, and wife or\n    wives. This he has to pay three times over--once for the Khedive,\n    once for the tax collector or local Beys, and once for the\n    Governor-General. The last two are illegal, but still scrupulously\n    collected to the piastre. To pay this he must grow some corn, and\n    for the privilege of growing corn he must pay L3 per annum. To grow\n    corn the desert earth must have water: the means of irrigation is a\n    'Sakeh,' a wheel like a mill-wheel with buckets on it, which raise\n    the water into a trough, and then it flows in little streams over\n    the land. A sakeh is turned by two oxen. Every man who uses a sakeh\n    must pay L7: if he does not use it, he must go into prison for\n    life, and have his hut burned. Every one must pay for the right of\n    working to earn money; every one must pay if they are idle; in any\n    case every one must pay to make the officials rich. If you have a\n    trading boat, you are fined L4 if you do not continually fly the\n    Egyptian flag, and you must pay L4 for the privilege of flying it.\"\n\nIn another letter he says:--\n\n    \"If they wish to grow corn they must pay for permission to do so,\n    pay for liberty to take water from the broad Nile, and pay for\n    liberty to sell the corn. If the crop is good, pay double taxes\n    (one for private purse of the Pasha and one for the Government at\n    Cairo). If they don't grow the corn they can't pay the taxes at\n    all, and get kourbashed (flogged) and put into prison. No matter\n    how they make a few piastres, the dragoman of some Bey or Pasha\n    will steal it for his master. They frequently pull down huts and\n    tear up yards and fields to find where the coins are hidden. If the\n    peasant buys a few rags for his wife or child, or mends a hole in\n    his hut to keep out the sun, he is told he must have got money\n    somewhere, and he is doubly taxed; and after all, his sole\n    possessions are a hut made of mud and river reeds, a rush bed, a\n    rush mat, and an earthen pot.\"\n\nIn still another letter he says:--\n\n    \"Some of these merchants, who sit all day in their little stalls in\n    the bazaar, are really millionaires, and would buy up many of the\n    London merchant-princes. They live like kings in what, outside,\n    looks like a mud hut. If one shows any outward signs of wealth, the\n    Pasha lets him know quietly that he will at once be charged as a\n    rebel or something, and put in prison if he does not make him a\n    little present, generally from L300 to L1000. One Pasha left here\n    last year, admitting, report says, that in three years he had made\n    L60,000. He came here three years ago as a clerk on L2 a month.\n    Abdul-Kereem Pasha, the Governor, took a fancy to him, and made him\n    chief of the tax-gatherers; in three years he gained the rank of\n    Pasha and L60,000--meaning 5000 ruined homes, several million\n    strokes of the bastinado, rapine, robbery, and men driven to\n    exasperation, and shot down at their doors.\"\n\nNeed we wonder that people so ground down by tyranny were delighted to\nhear their Governor-General announce that he would hold the balance\nlevel, and that no longer should the rich and powerful trample on the\nweak and poor?\n\nThe prominent characteristic of the Egyptian rule in the Soudan was\nfittingly summed up in the sentence, \"_Kourbash, kourbash, et toujours\nkourbash_,\" which being interpreted means, \"Flogging, flogging, always\nflogging.\" As to administration of justice, there was no such thing. He\nwho could bribe the judges the highest got judgment delivered in his\nfavour, while his opponent received the kourbash. The symbol of\nauthority might well have been a kourbash, which corresponds to the\nEnglish cat-o'-nine-tails. Men were often kourbashed for no other\nreason than that they would not, or could not, bribe any official who\nhad the power of administering this form of punishment not to inflict\nit on them. Nor must it be supposed that an ordinary flogging, such as\nwe understand by that term, would satisfy these tyrannical perpetrators\nof cruelty. Often the use of the kourbash meant that the victim was\nmaimed for life, and the unfortunate one might always consider himself\nlucky if he escaped without any permanent injury. In many cases it\namounted to nothing more or less than a form of torture, such as used\nto be inflicted in England in the barbarous Middle Ages, and if the\nsufferer had not actually got the money he was supposed to have, he\nwould often have to borrow as much as he could of the required amount,\nin order to avoid further torture. We can imagine how Gordon's blood\nmust have boiled with indignation at such gross miscarriages of\njustice; and during the whole time he served the Khedive, his object\nwas to do away with this kind of tyranny. Often his journeys from place\nto place were marked by signs of fallen greatness, as he would not\ntolerate tyranny. \"In one month,\" he says, \"I have turned out three\ngenerals of division, one general of brigade, and four lieutenant-colonels.\nIt is no use mincing matters.\"\n\nHe allowed every one to approach him and to make complaints. A box\nalways stood at his tent or palace, into which any one who had a\ngrievance could drop his written complaint, with a certainty that it\nwould receive immediate investigation. Such a method gave publicity to\ninstances of cruelty and oppression, and often, directly Gordon heard\nof cases of this kind, he would jump on his camel, pay a personal visit\nto the individual concerned, and having investigated the case on the\nspot, would deal out justice upon the culprit. Of course, in such an\nextensive province as his, without railways, it was absolutely\nimpossible to investigate all the cases, but by taking the more\nprominent and the grosser ones, he could strike terror into the hearts\nof evil-doers in high places; and in this way he considerably reduced\nthe evil of tyrannical rule, and taught the oppressed people that they\nhad as much right to live as their oppressors had.\n\nOf course Gordon was a much-hated man among the oppressor class, as\nreformers of deep-seated abuses usually are; but he knew that the weak\nand helpless at all events would appreciate him. When Wilberforce, the\ngreat slavery abolitionist, was accused by an opponent of interference\nwith the rights of man, he asked what those rights were, and received\nfor answer, \"The right that every man has to lick his own nigger!\" To\nrights of this kind, however long established, Gordon was an inveterate\nenemy; his object was to show that the weak and the helpless had rights\nas well as their oppressors, and in this he succeeded to a marvellous\nextent. \"My great desire,\" said he, \"is to be a shelter to the people,\nto ease their burdens, and to soften their hard lot in these\ninhospitable lands.\" And again:--\n\n    \"I have an enormous province to look after; but it is a great\n    blessing to me to know that God has undertaken the administration\n    of it, and it is His work, and not mine. If I fail, it is His will;\n    if I succeed, it is His work certainly. He has given me the joy of\n    not regarding the honours of this world, and to value my union with\n    Him above all things. May I be humbled to the dust and fail, so\n    that He may glorify Himself. The greatness of my position only\n    depresses me, and I cannot help wishing that the time had come when\n    He will lay me aside and use some other worm to do His work.\"\n\nBesides putting an end to cruelty and injustice, he introduced into\nKhartoum a system of water supply. But important as his work at\nKhartoum was, he was on May 19 compelled to leave, a revolt having\nbroken out at Darfour, where his immediate presence was required. So\noff he went on his camel into the very heart of the slave-hunting\ndistrict. Writing from Fogia, on the frontier of Darfour, he says:--\n\n    \"I have a splendid camel--none like it; it flies along, and quite\n    astonishes the Arabs. I came flying into this station in marshal's\n    uniform, and before the men had time to unpile arms, I had arrived\n    with only one man with me. I could not help it; the escort did not\n    come in for an hour and a half afterwards. The Arab chief who was\n    with me said it was the telegraph.... It is fearful to see the\n    Governor-General arrayed in gold clothes flying along like a\n    madman, with only a guide, as if he was pursued.... Specks had been\n    seen in the vast plain around the station moving towards it (like\n    Jehu's advance), but the specks were few--only two or three--and\n    were supposed to be the advanced guard, and before the men of Fogia\n    knew where they were, the station was taken!\"\n\nWriting from Oomchanga near Fascher, the capital of Darfour, he says:--\n\n    \"All this revolt is the fault of the Bashi-Bazouks. I said the\n    other day, 'If the people of this country were Ryahs or Christians,\n    I might understand your bad treatment of them, but I do not when I\n    see they are Mussulmans, as you.' Upon which the Darfourians were\n    delighted, and clapped their hands. Now the Darfourians were so\n    fanatical that they would never let a Christian into their country,\n    and now they ask me to send Christian Governors!\"\n\nTheir hatred of the Bashi-Bazouks was well illustrated by an incident\nGordon mentions, which was told him by one of the officers. \"An officer\ndeclared to me,\" he said, \"that a woman with an officer escaped with\nthe child he had by her, and taking the child to the chief of the\ninsurgents, asked him to kill it, as 'the child of a Turk,' which the\nchief did.\"\n\nOn June 29 Gordon was able to write, \"We have made peace with the\ntribes around here half-way to Fascher;\" but he records, \"I speak my\nmind, and I cannot help saying to some\" (of the Darfourians who had\ncome in to ask for peace), \"'You ought to pardon me.' Really no people\ncould have been treated worse than these people.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nNo sooner was one trouble settled than he was off on another\nexpedition, and this time his steps were directed towards Dara, the\nstronghold of the great prince of slave-dealers, Zebehr Rahama. _En\nroute_ he was nearly starved as well as poisoned by putrid water.\nWriting from Toashia on July 3, he says, \"We have been two whole days\nwithout meat,\" and he finds a garrison who for three years have been\nwithout pay! He left Toashia on July 11 with 500 men, of whom 150 only\nwere any good. On this march there was a threatened attack, which\nfortunately did not come off, but that he felt he was in great danger\nwe may gather from the extract: \"We have, thank God, passed our\ndangers. Whether they were imaginary or not, I do not know, but we were\nthreatened by an attack from thousands of determined blacks, who knew I\nwas here. Now very few Englishmen know what it is to be with troops\nthey have not a bit of confidence in.... I do not fear death, but I\nfear, from want of faith, the results of my death--for the whole\ncountry would have risen.\"\n\nAt Dara he came across a gang of 210 slaves, who had been rescued, but\nwho had received no food for thirty-six hours. His heart was filled\nwith pity for them, and he wrote:--\n\n    \"I am a fool, I dare say, but I cannot see the sufferings of these\n    people without tears in my eyes.... It is a sad sight to see the\n    poor starved creatures looking so wistfully at one. What can I do?\n    Poor souls! I cannot feed or look after them. I must leave it to\n    God, who will arrange all in kindness. Some of them were so\n    miserably thin. I have sent them some dhoora. I declare solemnly\n    that I would give my life willingly to save the sufferings of these\n    people; and if I would do this, how much more does He care for them\n    than such imperfection as I am! You would have felt sick had you\n    seen them. Poor creatures! thirty-six hours without food!\"\n\nThe more experience Colonel Gordon had of his Bashi-Bazouk soldiers,\nthe more he seems to have disliked them:--\n\n    \"I am worn to a shadow by the utter uselessness of the\n    Bashi-Bazouks. The very sight of them excites my ire. I never saw\n    such a useless, expensive set. I hate (there is no other word for\n    it) these Arabs; and I like the Blacks--patient, enduring, and\n    friendly, as much as the Arab is cowardly, cruel, and effeminate.\n    All the misery is due to these Arab and Circassian Pashas and\n    authorities. I would not stay a day here for these wretched\n    creatures, but I would give my life for these Blacks.\"\n\nWriting from Dara, he mentions an instance which occurred on the march\nto that place to show the cowardly nature of his men, as well as the\nbravery of the Blacks. His force of 3500 men was attacked by the\nLeopard tribe, numbering only 700 men. In spite of these overwhelming\nodds in their favour, Gordon says that his men were nearly beaten. \"I\nwas sickened,\" he said, \"to see twenty brave men of the tribes in\nalliance with me ride out to meet the Leopard tribe, unsupported by my\nmen, who crowded into the stockade. It was terribly painful. The only\nthing which restrained me from riding out to the attack was the\nsheep-like state in which my people would have been had I been killed.\nWhat, also, would have become of the province?\"\n\nNotwithstanding the inferior quality of his troops, Colonel Gordon was\ndetermined to march on and pay a visit to Zebehr Rahama's camp, one of\nthe boldest acts of his life. Zebehr, himself the head of the cursed\nslave traffic, was at this time practically a prisoner in Cairo. He\nhad, foolishly enough, gone there with L100,000, in the hope that he\ncould bribe the Khedive and his officials, and he even had the\neffrontery to ask Gordon to intercede for him. Unfortunately for\nZebehr, he was too powerful a man for the Khedive to care to have at\nlarge. He was practically an independent chief, his power and influence\nbeing greater in the Soudan than that of the Khedive. He lived in regal\nstyle, and every one trembled at his name. Dr. Schweinfurth thus\ndescribes the surroundings of this remarkable man. He was \"surrounded\nwith a court that was little less than princely in its details. Special\nrooms, provided with carpeted divans, were reserved as ante-chambers,\nand into these all visitors were conducted by richly-dressed slaves.\nThe regal aspect of these halls of state was increased by the\nintroduction of some lions, secured, as may be supposed, by\nsufficiently strong and massive chains.\" Dr. Birkbeck Hill says, \"He\nowned no less than thirty stations. These fortified posts were carried\nfar into the heart of Africa; and all along the line from one to\nanother, and round each one of them far and wide, the slave-dealer\nexercised despotic rule.\"\n\nThe only foolish act this prince of slave-hunters ever did was to put\nhimself into the power of the Khedive, by going to visit him at his\ncapital. Once at Cairo, the Khedive kept him there as a prisoner.\nZebehr's son, Suleiman, was at the head of his army of some 3000\nfighting men, as plucky as Gordon's men were cowardly. When the father\nwas detained at Cairo, he telegraphed in cipher to his son to break\ninto open revolt, and even to attack the Government. Gordon knew that\nhis men were utterly unable to meet Suleiman's troops in the field, so\nhe tried another method to intimidate the rebels. He rode on alone\nahead of his escort, covering eighty-five miles in a day and a half, in\nthe heat of August, and dashing into the camp of these robbers,\nsummoned their chief to an interview. Suleiman and his followers were\ndumbfounded by this bold act, and offered no resistance. The\nGovernor-General then told Suleiman that he was aware of the meditated\nrevolt, and that if he did not submit to his authority, his band should\nbe broken up and disarmed. Suleiman and his chiefs went off to consider\ntheir course of action. Of course many were for making Gordon a\nprisoner, and he had, humanly speaking, a narrow escape. However,\nSuleiman decided to submit, and though afterwards we hear of him again\nin open revolt, for the time being Gordon carried the day. Nothing but\nhis daring courage preserved him on that occasion. He even accepted an\ninvitation to visit Suleiman at Shaka, where he spent two days. When\nSuleiman asked for an appointment, it was refused, on the ground that\nhe had not yet shown his loyalty to the Khedive. Gordon, however, made\nhim a present of his own gun, and taught him to use it.\n\nGordon often used to speak of this adventure as a most remarkable\nanswer to prayer. He had prayed for Suleiman before starting, and had\nalso asked for guidance for himself, and God heard him. It has\nsometimes been represented as a mad freak on Gordon's part to put\nhimself into the lion's den in this way, but it was nothing of the\nkind. Suleiman was in revolt, supported by a splendid army. Gordon was\nabsolutely at his mercy, for he could not rely on his troops. It was\nonly Gordon's daring courage that intimidated Suleiman, and made him\nthink Gordon was stronger than he really was.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nAfter obtaining the submission of Suleiman, Gordon returned to\nKhartoum, and again for a time resumed his ordinary official duties.\nBut this was not for long; he had before him another visit to Walad el\nMichael, the turbulent Abyssinian chief, whom he had visited before\ntaking up his duties at Khartoum. Gordon's object was to persuade Walad\nto submit to the authority of King Johannis of Abyssinia. But nothing\nwould induce Walad to do this. He was surrounded by 7000 soldiers, and\nGordon felt himself, in spite of the denials of the rebel chief,\npractically a prisoner. Walad demanded authority to go on attacking\nJohannis, but to this of course the Governor-General could not assent.\nHe therefore compromised matters by offering Walad L1000 per mensem, on\ncondition that he should leave his old king alone.\n\nHaving settled Walad, Gordon left, intending to return to Khartoum, but\nwas intercepted by a telegram from the Khedive begging him to go to\nCairo to help him in his financial difficulties, and he started for\nCairo on February 3, 1878, having completed one year's service as\nGovernor-General of the Soudan.\n\nIn spite of the hard rough life of the Soudan, he infinitely preferred\nit to the more artificial civilised existence which the officials were\nliving at Cairo. He arrived there on March 7th, and left again on the\n30th; and during the whole of his stay he was wretched. At first the\nKhedive paid great attention to him, receiving him with a splendour\nwhich suggested the \"Arabian Nights.\" He asked him to be the president\nof a commission of inquiry into the finances of the country, with the\ncondition attached that he should use his influence to arrange with the\nrepresentatives of the different countries that the commissioners of\nthe debt or the representatives of the creditors who had lent money to\nEgypt should not serve on that commission of inquiry. After a good deal\nof discussion, it was finally ascertained that this condition would not\nbe consented to by the foreign Governments. This of course relieved\nColonel Gordon of any obligations in the matter, and he, seeing that he\ncould be of no further service, decided to return to his province.\nConsidering how much Gordon had done to try and accomplish the desires\nof the Khedive, there can be little question that he was in this matter\ntreated very badly. \"I left Cairo,\" said he, \"with no honours, by the\nordinary train, paying my own passage. The sun which rose with such\nsplendour set in the deepest obscurity. I calculate my financial\nepisode cost me L800. His Highness was bored with me after my failure,\nand could not bear the sight of me.\"\n\nFortunately for Gordon, he cared very little for official favour. \"I\nnow only look,\" said he in a letter written a short time after this,\n\"to benefiting the people.\" It was in this spirit he visited Harrar, a\nsmall province detached from the Soudan, and lying to the south of\nAbyssinia, on the eastern coast of Africa, almost opposite to Aden.\nThis province had once belonged to Turkey, but had been transferred to\nthe Khedive in exchange for L15,000 per annum extra tribute. The\ngovernor of the province was Raouf Pasha, whom Colonel Gordon, it will\nbe remembered, had refused to employ on account of his cruel treatment\nof the natives in the Equatorial Province four years before. Again he\nhad been playing the tyrant, and Gordon felt it to be his duty to turn\nhim out. As this man afterwards succeeded Colonel Gordon as\nGovernor-General of the Soudan, it is to him more than any one that the\npresent Khedive is indebted for having lost the whole of the Soudan. By\nhis tyranny, following after Gordon's kindness, the province was\nstirred into revolt, and the Mahdi enabled to usurp authority. We are,\nhowever, anticipating events.\n\nHaving freed Harrar of this tyrant, he went to Massowah, and thence on\nMay 22nd to Khartoum. Back once more at his capital, he devoted himself\nfirst to a thorough reform of the prisons and the administration of the\nlaw. \"The prisons,\" he wrote, \"were dens of injustice, and I am glad to\nhave had time to go into the question of each individual prisoner.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nAlthough he used to tell amusing stories against himself and his own\npersonal expenditure of money, yet Gordon had great aptitude for\nfinance, and could make money go farther than most men. Had his views\nbeen adopted for Egypt, it is more than likely that we should have been\nsaved the Egyptian war, to say nothing of the loss of the Soudan, and\nall that was associated with it. In the Soudan province there was an\nannual deficit amounting to something like L259,000. By dint of cutting\ndown expenditure and increasing the receipts, Gordon reduced this\nduring the second year to L50,600! Had he continued Governor-General\nfor many years, there can be no question that he would have not only\nmade the two ends meet, but would have obtained sufficient to carry out\nhis schemes of opening up the country by railways and steamers, thus at\nthe same time developing trade and reducing slavery. He calculated that\nwith great economy, and utilising the machinery and the rails that were\nalready lying idle in the country, a highway from Cairo to Khartoum\nmight have been opened up for L70,000, a sum of money which over and\nover again has been frittered away in building great useless palaces\nfor the Khedive or some other Egyptian official, which bring in no\nincome, and are a great expense to keep up. The traffic, especially the\nconveyance of ivory and other merchandise, would soon have recouped the\nGovernment for their original outlay. The way in which Colonel Gordon\nwas thwarted in every possible manner at this time troubled him a good\ndeal. \"As for myself,\" he writes, \"I am exceedingly weary, and wish,\nwith a degree of bitterness, that it was all over. I am cooped up here\nnow, but am much occupied with finances, which are in a very low state.\nMy life is burthensome and weary, but I feel that it is better to be\nemployed here than to be idle elsewhere.\"\n\nWriting on November 20, 1878, he says:--\n\n    \"I will give you an instance of the miserable way the Cairo\n    Government treats the Soudan. I asked H.H.[8] a long time ago to\n    send up a man A. H.H. replied he wanted the man A., and could not\n    send him. To-day I got a request for L7, 10s., stating that I had\n    asked for A., who was at Port Said; that in consequence A. went to\n    Cairo and said that he did not want to come; so they ask me to pay\n    the L7, 10s. for his passage from Port Said to Cairo and return,\n    which I have refused to do.\"\n\n      [8] The abbreviation he generally used for His Highness\n      the Khedive.\n\nClosely associated with this question of finance was the still more\nimportant question of slavery. The Khedive's Government were at this\ntime at their wit's end for money. They wrote to Colonel Gordon asking\nhim to send them L12,000, and he replied that he had no funds\navailable. Nubar Pasha, who was Minister at the time, was casting about\nto see how money could be raised, and not being troubled with\nconscientious scruples on the subject of slavery, he made overtures to\nthe great slave-dealer Zebehr, who, it will be remembered, was\npractically a prisoner in Cairo. Zebehr jumped at the offer, and\npromised to send L25,000 per annum to Cairo from the Soudan, if he were\nmade Governor-General in place of Gordon. This of course meant that he\nwould be allowed a perfectly free hand to kidnap as many slaves as\npossible, in order to make up the annual deficit in addition to this\nsubsidy of L25,000. Writing from Khartoum on February 18, 1879, Gordon\nsays that he was ordered to return to Cairo for consultation. This,\nhowever, he steadily refused to do, on the ground of certain\ndisturbances which had occurred. There was a simultaneous rebellion of\nslave-dealers in the Bahr-Gazelle, and also risings in Darfour and\nKordofan, and Gordon felt it to be his duty to go and assist his\nlieutenant, Gessi, who was endeavouring to crush Zebehr's gang. Again\nall the horrors of the slave-trade were forced upon Gordon's mind.\n\n    \"I declare if I could stop this traffic I would willingly be shot\n    this night. This shows my ardent desire; and yet, strive as I can,\n    I can scarcely see any hope of arresting the evil. Now comes the\n    question, Could I sacrifice my life and remain in Kordofan and\n    Darfour? To die quickly would be to me nothing; but the long\n    crucifixion that a residence in these horrid countries entails\n    appalls me. Yet I feel that, if I could screw up my mind to it, I\n    could cause the trade to cease, for its roots are in these\n    countries.... I have written to the Khedive to say I will not\n    remain as Governor-General, for I feel I cannot govern the country\n    to satisfy myself.... Now as I will not stay as Governor-General of\n    the whole of the Soudan, query, shall I stay as Governor of the\n    West Soudan, and crush the slave-dealers? I agree, if the death was\n    speedy; but oh! it is a long and weary one, and for the moment I\n    cannot face it.\"\n\nAgain, writing from Kalaka at the beginning of May 1879, he says:--\n\n    \"All the road from here to Shaka is marked by the camping-places of\n    the slave-dealers, and there are numerous skulls by the side of the\n    road. What thousands have passed along here! I hear some districts\n    are completely depopulated, all the inhabitants having been\n    captured or starved to death.\"\n\nBut though Gordon could not do all he desired, he was enabled to do\nmore perhaps than any other man could have accomplished in the\ncircumstances, and by the end of June 1879, Suleiman, the son of the\ngreat Zebehr, had been hunted down by Gessi, who discovered papers\nclearly proving the guilt of both father and son. The latter was tried\nby court-martial and shot, and Gordon sent the evidence against the\nfather to the Khedive. No notice was taken of it, and Gordon bitterly\ncomplains that, instead of being punished, Zebehr was _pensioned_!\n\"What pensions,\" he asks, \"have the widows and orphans whom Zebehr has\nmade by the thousand? What allowance have the poor worn-out bodies of\nmen, strong enough till he dragged them from their homes, who are now\ndraining the last bitter dregs of life in cruel slavery? What\nrecompense has been made to those whose bleached bones mark the track\nof his trade over many and many a league of ground?\"\n\nSpace does not permit a detailed account of the interesting and\nexciting campaign in which Gessi delivered this crushing blow against\nthe great slave-dealer. No man had imbibed more of Gordon's detestation\nto the slave trade than Gessi, and with quite a small force he captured\nthe redoubtable Suleiman, who had a large force at his disposal. Gordon\nmade him a Pasha and gave him a reward of L2000, which he richly\ndeserved.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII\n\nABYSSINIA, INDIA, AND CHINA\n\n\nColonel Gordon's work of putting a stop to slave-hunting and other\nevils in the Soudan was about to terminate. At Fogia on the 1st July\n1879 he received a telegram announcing that Ismail had abdicated, and\nthat his son Tewfik reigned at Cairo in his place. Gordon at once\ndecided to go to Cairo. He writes:--\n\n    \"I am a wreck, like the portion of the _Victory_ towed into\n    Gibraltar after Trafalgar; but God has enabled me, or rather has\n    used me, to do what I wished to do--that is, break down the\n    slave-trade.... To-day I had a telegram from Darfour, saying,\n    'Haroun [another great slave-dealer, second only in importance to\n    Zebehr] had been killed and his forces dispersed.' God has truly\n    been good to me. 'Those that honour Me I will honour.' May I be\n    ground to dust, if He will glorify Himself in me; but give me a\n    _humble heart_, for then He dwells there in comfort.\"\n\n\"The new Khedive is most civil,\" he writes from Cairo, \"but I no longer\ndistress myself with such things. God is the sole ruler, and I try to\nwalk sincerely before Him.\" In spite of his treatment by the deposed\nKhedive, he always had a real affection for him, and he says: \"It pains\nme what sufferings my poor Khedive Ismail has had to go through;\" but\nlater on he writes: \"Do not fret about Ismail Pasha; he is a\nphilosopher, and has plenty of money. He played high stakes and lost.\nHe is the cleverest man in Europe. I am one of those he fooled, but I\nbear him no grudge. It is a blessing for Egypt that he has gone.\"\n\nColonel Gordon had quite determined not to remain under the new\nKhedive, so he terminated, as he then thought for ever, his connection\nwith the Soudan, little thinking how inseparably his name was yet to be\nassociated with that country. It may give us some idea of the energy of\nthe man when it is mentioned that during the last three years he had\nridden 8500 miles on camels or mules. Such violent exertion in a hot\ncountry was greatly to the detriment of his health. In one of his\nletters he says:--\n\n    \"From not having worn a bandage across the chest, I have shaken my\n    heart or my lungs out of their places; and I have the same feeling\n    in my chest as you have when you have a crick in the neck. In\n    camel-riding you ought to wear a sash round the waist, and another\n    close up under the armpits; otherwise, all the internal machinery\n    gets disturbed.\"\n\nBefore finally quitting the service of the Khedive, Gordon felt that he\nwould like to put affairs between Egypt and Abyssinia on a more\nsatisfactory footing, though it was through no fault of his that they\nwere in such a bad condition. In spite, therefore, of his state of\nhealth, he left Cairo on August 30, 1879, on a mission to the\nAbyssinian king, Johannis. Writing home he playfully alludes to a\nridiculous report that was being circulated, that he intended to throw\noff allegiance to Egypt, and set up as an independent Sultan, similar\nto what the American adventurer, Burgevine, proposed to do in China.\n\"The Khedive said, after some circumlocution, 'Was I not too friendly\nwith Johannis?' In fact, the general report in Cairo was that I was\ngoing in for being Sultan; but it would not suit our family. I hope to\nfinish off Johannis soon, and then to come home.\" There seem to have\nbeen some other evil reports circulated at this time about Colonel\nGordon, for he says again in his humorous manner: \"I wrote to the\nsecretary of the Foreign Office man, who is a friend of mine, asking\nhim to tell his chief, who is of the council, 'That if, on my return, I\nhear any of the Council of Ministers have said anything against me, I\nwill beg the Khedive to make the evil speaker Governor-General of the\nSoudan,' which is equivalent to a sentence of death to these Cairo\nPashas.\"\n\nThough he was sick in body his brave spirit showed no signs of yielding\nas long as there was duty to be done, and off he went to Abyssinia. On\nSeptember 2nd, 1879, he writes:--\n\n    \"The heat is terrible, but I am quiet and that is a great thing. I\n    fear, through this Abyssinian affair, I shall have to wend my weary\n    way to Senheit; however, God knows what is best for me. I would\n    sooner have come home straight, but I had it not in my heart to\n    forsake Tewfik till this affair is finished. I have begun to be\n    very tired of the continual wear and tear of my last six years.\n    However, I cannot think of leaving Egypt exposed to her enemies.\"\n\nOn September 12th he writes, when _en route_ to meet Aloula, the\nAbyssinian commander-in-chief:--\n\n    \"We have met a caravan coming from Aloula's. They confirm the news\n    that Walad el Michael and all his officers are prisoners, by orders\n    sent to Aloula by King Johannis, and Metfin [Walad el Michael's\n    son, whom Gordon disliked very much] is dead--killed by some one. I\n    heard just as I left Massowah that Abdulgassin--the last of the\n    leaders of Zebehr's slave-dealers--had been taken, and I ordered\n    him to be shot.[9] Thus gaps, one by one, are made in my prayers\n    for my enemies.\"\n\n      [9] This man had started his career by a cold-blooded murder.\n      When he first set up his standard of revolt, the wind blew it\n      down, so in order to turn away the anger of heaven four oxen were\n      slaughtered, and then a negro boy. In the poor wretch's blood a\n      flag was dipped, and the standard was raised a second time, a\n      second time to fall.\n\nThis last remark is made in reference to his custom of always praying\nfor his enemies by name.\n\nHe went on this Abyssinian embassy with a heavy heart, for the Khedive\nhad telegraphed to him, \"Give up nothing, but do not fight.\" It really\nmattered little what happened, considering that soon Egypt was to give\nup even the lands over which she had a legal right, but in November\n1879 this could not be foreseen. Khedive Ismail had undoubtedly behaved\nvery badly to Abyssinia, and had treated the Abyssinian envoy with a\ngreat want of courtesy. Tewfik, however, was not to blame for this, and\nhe wanted to express his regret at the past and his desire to renew the\nold friendship between Egypt and Abyssinia. Johannis was a tyrannical\nking, hated by his own people, who thought him partly mad, and he took\nto heart Ismail's conduct to his representative and refused to\ndistinguish between one Khedive and another. Gordon's description of\nthe Abyssinian king is as follows:--\n\n    \"Johannis, oddly enough, is like myself--a religious fanatic. He\n    has a mission, and will fulfil it, and that mission is _to\n    Christianise!! all Mussulmans_. He has forbidden the smoking of\n    tobacco in his country, and cuts off the right hand and left foot\n    of any man he catches doing so! When Christ comes again, how truly\n    He may say to us all 'I know ye not.'\"\n\nGordon had foreseen that the Abyssinians would probably revenge\nthemselves upon him for the treatment which their envoy had received at\nCairo, and this probability was rendered a certainty by the fact that\nhe had nothing to offer by way of compensation. From the day he entered\nAbyssinia to the day he left it, he was constantly insulted, and he\ngained very little by the journey, in which he risked his life. He saw\nKing Johannis, and got him to make certain definite demands, but the\nking would not put them into writing. When Gordon referred him to the\nKhedive's letter it was not forthcoming, and could not even be found\nfor some time. When it was found the chief clerk received forty blows\nfor not having before translated it! Amid a pile of letters which were\ndisregarded, Gordon saw one from the British Government and one from\nthe French Government.\n\nAt first the king tried to distinguish between Gordon and the Khedive,\nbut the former was too loyal to allow this, and informed the king that\nhe must look on him as a Mahommedan and an Egyptian, and not as a\nChristian and an Englishman. On this point Gordon held very\nconscientious views. In the event of a foreigner entering the service\nof an Oriental Power, he contended, \"He shall for the time entirely\nabandon his relations with his native land; he shall resist his own\ngovernment, and those of other powers, and keep intact the sovereignty\nof the Oriental State whose bread he eats.\"\n\nWhen Johannis saw that Gordon had nothing to offer, and nothing was to\nbe got out of him, he dismissed him. It is unnecessary to retail all\nthe unpleasant incidents of his journey to Massowah. The only thing of\nimportance is, that Gordon, anticipating that there might be\ndisturbances at Massowah, telegraphed to the Khedive to send a\nbattalion of infantry there, a request to which no attention was paid.\nThis neglect on the part of the Khedive ultimately led to an open\nrupture between him and Gordon. Fortunately the British Government had\nsent a gunboat across from Aden at Gordon's request. \"The whole town\nwas in a ferment,\" Gordon writes, \"and had it not been for H.M.S.\n_Seagull_, Massowah would no doubt have been attacked and sacked.\" The\nKhedive asked Gordon to come at once to Cairo, but this he refused to\ndo till the battalion arrived, as he felt that his presence was\nnecessary there, \"in order to give confidence to the people, until the\ntroops came.\"\n\nUltimately, however, Gordon went to Cairo, and gave the Khedive a piece\nof his mind, with regard to the publication of confidential telegrams,\nas well as other things. It was on this occasion that he received the\nreply from the ruler of Egypt, \"I am a young man; it is not my fault,\"\nwhich caused some little amusement in England, when it was made known.\nThe rupture was made, Gordon had decided to serve the Khedive no\nlonger, and at the beginning of the year 1880 he returned home for the\nrest that he required, mentally and physically, after six years'\nincessant hard work in the thankless task of governing the Soudan.\n\nWhen Gordon was leaving Alexandria he was medically examined by Dr.\nMackie, the surgeon to the British Consulate, who stated that he was\n\"suffering from symptoms of nervous exhaustion, and alteration of the\nblood, giving rise to haemorrhagic spots on the skin, &c.\" \"I have,\"\nsaid the same authority, \"recommended him to retire for several months\nfor complete rest and quiet, and that he may be able to enjoy fresh and\nwholesome food, as I consider that much of what he is suffering from is\nthe effect of continued bodily fatigue, anxiety, and indigestible food.\nI have insisted on his abstaining from all exciting work--especially\nsuch as implies business or political excitement.\" Gordon possessed an\nexceptionally strong constitution, but there is a limit to the burden\nwhich the most powerful can bear, and that limit had been exceeded.\nThere was nothing for it, therefore, but to put into dock for\nconstitutional repairs.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nAfter spending three months in England, he went to Switzerland on the\n9th April 1880. During this period of inactivity he was offered by the\nGovernment of the Cape of Good Hope the command of their colonial\nforces on L1500 per annum, but his reply was, \"Thanks for telegram just\nreceived; I do not feel inclined to accept an appointment.\" In the\nbeginning of May, however, he accepted the post of private secretary to\nLord Ripon, who was going out to India as Viceroy. Considering that\nColonel Gordon had been ruling a territory as large as France, Germany,\nand Spain put together, it was thought strange at the time that he\nshould accept such a very subordinate post as that of secretary to the\nViceroy, himself only a subordinate to the Secretary of State for\nIndia, who practically governs that vast empire from Downing Street by\nmeans of the telegraph. The appointment was indeed a peculiarly\nunfortunate one. The P. & O. steamer that conveyed the Viceregal party\nhad on board two kings, the greater man being, so to speak, the\nuncrowned one. The Viceroy, who has since shown himself to be a man of\nability, had not at that time gained the confidence of the public.\nConsequently, his principal qualification for the post was that he\npossessed the aristocracy of birth. It is impossible to secure\neverything in any given man, and as social distinctions weigh heavily\nin such a post as that of Viceroy of India, only average abilities are\nas a rule looked for. Consequently India has been termed the \"land of\nmediocrity,\" from the fact that the average statesmen who direct her\naffairs, are neither very brilliant nor very dull.\n\nThe Viceroy must have been more than human not to have felt somewhat\nkeenly the awkward position in which he was placed on that voyage. To\nmake matters worse, the ship was compelled to pass through the very\nterritory where Gordon's name was best known, and he was most beloved,\nand thus the Suez Canal voyage was a kind of royal progress.\nUnfortunately the homage paid was to the subordinate, the uncrowned\nking, and not to him who held the higher position. It was Gordon's\nopinion that was sought for, it was to him that every one looked, and\nit is said by the well informed, that at least once on the voyage this\nled to difficulties. Be that as it may, the experience of that voyage\nshowed Colonel Gordon that he was utterly out of place, and that it was\nneither fair to himself, nor to his chief, that he should continue in\nit, so he decided to resign at Bombay, which place he reached on June\n1st. All sorts of reasons for this resignation were suggested at the\ntime, but none of them went very near the mark. Of course some said\nthat the difference of opinion on religious matters was the cause,\nwhile others alleged a political reason, saying that Colonel Gordon was\nopposed to the treatment of Yakoob Khan, the late Ameer of Afghanistan.\nColonel Gordon's brother, the late Sir H. Gordon, has given publicity\nto this latter as the reason, but as a matter of fact it is not the\ncorrect one, and there is no use handing down false reports to\nposterity. More than this I am not at liberty to say.\n\nThe only published statement on the subject from Gordon himself was as\nfollows:--\n\n    \"In a moment of weakness I took the appointment of private\n    secretary to Lord Ripon, and repented that I had done so at once,\n    but I did not like to say so. I went out, and saw at Bombay that in\n    my irresponsible position I could not possibly hope to do anything\n    really to the purpose, in the face of vested interests out there;\n    so seeing this was the case, and also observing that my views were\n    diametrically opposed to those of the official classes, I gave it\n    up. It certainly was a great consideration with me--Lord Ripon's\n    position--for it was assumed by some, that my views of the state of\n    affairs were those of the Viceroy, and then I felt I would do him\n    harm by staying with him. Lord Ripon and I left perfect friends.\n    The brusqueness of my leaving was unavoidable, inasmuch as my stay\n    would have put me in the possession of State things that I ought\n    not to know. Certainly, I might have stayed a month or two, and had\n    a pain in the head and gone quickly; but the whole duties were so\n    distasteful that I felt--being perfectly callous as to what the\n    world says--it was better to go at once, and did so.\"\n\nSubordinate posts of that kind may do very well for men of ability, who\nhave a name to make; but it is not in accordance with human nature,\nthat a man of brilliant genius, who had already made a great reputation\nas a soldier and an administrator, could serve with satisfaction to\nhimself, or justice to his chief, in such a position, and Gordon was\nnot the man to serve unless he could be thoroughly loyal.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nHaving resigned his post on the 3rd June, he received a telegram from\nLondon inviting him to go again to China. Mr. Robert Hart, then in\nChina as Inspector-General of Customs, telegraphed to Mr. Campbell, his\nagent in London, to invite Gordon to go out on six months' leave. Mr.\nCampbell, seeing Gordon's resignation announced, at once passed on the\ninvitation to Bombay. Gordon's reply was, \"Inform Hart Gordon will\nleave for Shanghai first opportunity; as for conditions, Gordon\nindifferent.\" He then telegraphed to the War Office for leave till the\nend of the year. It was thought that China would shortly be involved in\nwar with Russia, and as our own relationships with the Czar were not\ntoo friendly at that time, the War Office authorities felt bound to act\ncautiously, lest it should appear as if we shrank from fighting Russia\nourselves, but were encouraging another nation to do so, by allowing\none of our most brilliant officers to lead their forces. Consequently\nGordon received the following telegram, \"Must state more specifically\npurpose and position for and in which you go to China.\" Gordon's reply\nwas, \"Am ignorant; will write from China before the expiration of my\nleave.\" On the 11th he received a further message, \"Reasons\ninsufficient: your going to China is not approved.\" To this Gordon\nreplied, \"Arrange retirement, commutation or resignation of service;\nask Campbell reasons. My counsel, if asked, would be for peace, not\nwar. I return by America.\" The War Office were not, however, going to\nlose an officer of such ability so easily, so when Gordon arrived at\nPoint de Galle on the 16th June, he found the following telegram\nawaiting him, \"Leave granted on your engaging to take no military\nservice in China;\" to which he replied, \"I will take no military\nservice in China; I would never embarrass the British Government.\"\n\nHe arrived at Hong-Kong on July 2nd and went immediately to Shanghai,\nbut hearing that his old friend, Li Hung Chang, was at Tientsin, he\nproceeded there at once, and found things in a very unsatisfactory\ncondition. Prince Chun and the Empress Regent were anxious for war with\nRussia, being supported in this folly by all the Court, while Prince\nKung and Li Hung Chang practically stood alone in their desire for\npeace. Li was so delighted to see Gordon that he fell on his neck and\nkissed him. Gordon at once threw his influence into the scale of peace.\nHe had previously, before leaving India, expressed his views on the\nsubject in the press:--\n\n    \"My fixed desire is to persuade the Chinese not to go to war with\n    Russia, both in their own interests, and for the sake of those of\n    the world, especially those of England. To me it appears that the\n    question in dispute cannot be of such vital importance that an\n    arrangement could not be come to, by concessions upon both sides.\n    Whether I succeed in being heard or not is not in my hands. I\n    protest, however, at being regarded as one who wishes for war in\n    any country, still less in China. Inclined as I am, with only a\n    small degree of admiration for military exploits, I esteem it a far\n    greater honour to promote peace than to gain any paltry honours in\n    a wretched war.\"\n\nAs a matter of fact Gordon did succeed in convincing the Government at\nPekin of the advisability of coming to terms with its opponent, and\nthus once more he rendered China an invaluable service. In his earnest\nadvocacy he appears to have used such emphatic language that the\ninterpreter dared not repeat it, so Gordon seized a dictionary, looked\nup the word \"idiotcy,\" and pointed it out to them. Far better was it,\nin Gordon's opinion, to ruffle the self-esteem of a few bigwigs, than\nto allow two great nations to drift into a war which, after an enormous\nsacrifice of life and much suffering, must have ended fatally for the\nChinese, who were quite unable to meet the trained hordes of Russia.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII\n\nMAURITIUS, CAPE, AND PALESTINE\n\n\nGordon left China immediately he had saved that country from war,\narriving in England on October 21, 1880. From then till about the end\nof the following April he spent on leave. During this month the post of\nofficer commanding Royal Engineers at the Mauritius fell vacant, and\ntwo officers to whom the command was offered retired rather than go to\nMauritius. Sir Howard Elphinstone was then offered the command, and\nwould also probably have retired, but Colonel Gordon offered to go for\nhim, and refused any money on account of the exchange, though usually\nL700 or L800 was paid for an exchange of this kind. Yet Gordon was so\npoor that he had actually to borrow the money to pay for his passage\nwhen he went from India to China a few months before this! He left\nEngland for the Mauritius on the 2nd May, travelling _via_ the Suez\nCanal and Aden.\n\nThe voyage opened up to his ever-active fertile brain the whole\nquestion of the advantage to England of the Suez Canal, and of our\nproper route to India. This, he maintained most strongly, should, in\nthe event of war, be _via_ the Cape, and not through the Canal, his\nopinion concurring with that of Lord Palmerston, Mr. W. E. Forster, and\nmany men of ability. The Suez route may save a few days, but the risk\nis terrible. In some parts of the Canal only one ship can pass at a\ntime, and a sunken barge, a little dynamite, or even a severe sandstorm\nmay block the Canal for days. An enemy could easily bribe the owners of\na few petty craft to sink their vessels, and thus completely to block\nup troopships in the Canal. Even without such designs our troopships\nare frequently delayed in passing through owing to accidents of all\nsorts.\n\nThe heads of many Englishmen have been completely turned by the opening\nof the Suez Canal, and Gordon was one of the few who stood out against\nthe idea of considering it as _the_ proper route to India. It has been\nsaid that our trade has increased very largely since the Canal was\nopened, and that is true; but then the period in question has been one\nof special activity, and probably our trade would have increased no\nless had the Canal never been constructed. Moreover, the trade of other\ncountries has increased even more rapidly. Italy, France, Russia,\nGermany, and Austria have gained more in proportion than we have. In\nthe olden days, when all the trade with the East came to Europe _via_\nthe Cape, England was the great centre of the world. Everything was\nshipped to England, and then despatched to different parts of Europe.\nWe were the great carriers of the ocean. But the Suez Canal has\ndisturbed this arrangement, and the European nations can more easily\nobtain their supplies direct through the Canal, to the detriment of our\nlabour market. Gordon recognised that it was too late for the mistake\nto be remedied, but he was most anxious that we should attach more\nimportance to our hold on the Cape, as the natural route to India in\nthe event of war, and not be deceived by the fictitious advantages of\nthe Suez Canal, which only offers the saving of a few days at enormous\nrisk.\n\nHe took the opportunity of stopping at Suez to pay a visit to the grave\nof his friend and lieutenant, Gessi, who had lost his life and died at\nSuez from the hardships through which he passed on the Nile, partly\nowing to the blocking of that river by the \"sudd,\" which had re-formed\nafter Gordon left the Soudan, all precautionary measures having been\nneglected, and partly owing to the cruel neglect of the authorities,\nwho might have taken more prompt measures for his relief. As his master\nwas to do a few years later, Gessi practically sacrificed his life in\nthe crusade against slavery. He had been an interpreter in the Crimean\nwar, and in the Soudan he exhibited such great military skill that he\nwas given a high independent command, with the result that he was, it\nwill be remembered, the means of capturing and breaking up Suleiman's\nband of slave-dealers.\n\nColonel Gordon arrived at the Mauritius at the end of May 1881, and he\nleft in March 1882, so he was only for about ten months on the island.\nHe went out to command the Royal Engineers, but as the officer\ncommanding the island was promoted and sent home, he succeeded by\nseniority to the chief command. During this period there is not much to\nmention beyond the fact that here, as elsewhere, he used every\nopportunity to do acts of kindness to others. Two men of the Royal\nArtillery had, when the worse for liquor, gone out in a boat, without\noars. For eight days they were drifting about in the currents that\nsurround the Mauritius. At last they reached the Island of Bourbon, and\nin attempting to land, one of them got drowned. The other was sent back\nto his battery, and the owner of the lost boat at once demanded\ncompensation. Thinking that the poor fellow had already suffered enough\nfor his misdeeds, Colonel Gordon paid for the boat, and took the\nreceipt to the man's commanding officer, stipulating that he should not\ntell the man who had got him out of trouble. He always took the\ngreatest interest in the men, and also in the agent of the Army\nScripture Readers' Society, who worked among them. He told the officer\nwho collected funds for that Society to put him down for a subscription\nof Rs.40 per annum, and said that if more was wanted he would be\ndelighted to give it.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nIn March 1882 he received a telegram from the Premier of the Cape\nGovernment, asking for his aid in bringing about a termination of the\nBasuto war. He had previously in April 1881 offered his services on\nL700 per annum for this purpose, but the Government then in office at\nthe Cape had not even replied to his telegram, either by mail or by\nwire, and so Gordon had thought no more about the matter. Troubles had\nthickened, and a new Government had come into office. Hence the offer,\naccompanied by the statement that they did not expect him to be bound\nto the salary formerly proposed. Gordon at once accepted the offer, but\nhe could not get a ship going to the Cape direct. Fortunately there was\na small coasting vessel called the _Scotia_ bound for the Cape, so\nGordon at once took his passage, and stated that he would arrive on\nboard at a certain hour. The hour came, but no passenger arrived. The\nafternoon wore away, evening came and passed, night arrived, and still\nthe Colonel did not put in an appearance. At last, about midnight, a\ngentleman quietly came on deck, saying that he was Colonel Gordon, and\nhastened to explain his reasons for being so late. Some of the officers\nand people on the island, hearing that he was going to sail, had\nintended to give him an ovation. In order to escape this, he had walked\ntwelve miles into the interior, returning after dark so that no one\nshould know where he was. Next day, however, crowds came on board to\nwish him \"good-bye,\" among them many children in whom he had as usual\ntaken an interest. One of these, whom he introduced as his \"pet lamb\"\nto the wife of the captain of the ship, brought him a couple of bottles\nof sherry, and other friends gave him a case of champagne. As he was\nalmost a total abstainer and frequently did not touch stimulants for\ndays together, he had no use for the wine, but he accepted the gifts in\norder to please the givers.\n\nHe made himself perfectly at home on board the little ship, and soon\nbecame very friendly with the captain and his wife. He spoke a great\ndeal about the Seychelles Islands, situated to the north-east of\nMadagascar, which he believed to be the site of the Garden of Eden, and\nhe showed them wood from the coco-de-mer, or nut of the sea, which he\nbelieved to be the veritable tree that produced the forbidden fruit\nwhich our ancestors tasted. The voyage, though not more than three\nthousand miles in length, lasted a whole month, and there was some\nrough weather, which he felt terribly, for he was not a particularly\ngood sailor, and the ship was very small. Writing to his sister he\nsaid:--\n\n    \"You will not care overmuch for my secular history, but will say,\n    'What did you learn on the passage?' Well, the passage was truly a\n    fearful trial; dirt prevailed in everything; the bilge-water\n    literally, when pumped out from decayed sugar, tore up the very\n    inmost parts of the stomach, and showed me that, if that was wrong,\n    life was unendurable. I am not generally sick at sea, but I was\n    nearly dead with it; perhaps it was Mauritius fever coming out.\n    Salt water had got into the tank and we had to drink it. I was\n    very, very ill, but through it all I would not have changed one\n    iota of the voyage....\n\n    \"I am a _rag_; that voyage in the _Scotia_ has killed me. I went to\n    Dr. Abercromby, and he told me I was on the verge of an attack of\n    jaundice. I am certainly better, but feel far from well. Listless,\n    worried in _body_, not a bit in spirits, and as if I had eaten\n    copper. I want to get into the position of delighting to accept and\n    do His will, yet I feel so very much inclined to wish His will\n    might be my release....\n\n    \"Earth's joys grow very dim, its glories have faded. My Mauritius\n    sojourn has quenched to a great degree my desire for anything but\n    to be with Jesus. Everybody is very kind here and complimentary,\n    but all compliments are to me but sounds of the wind. If it was\n    Jesus' will, how delighted I should be to be called away, to be a\n    nail in His footstool, and how willingly I would have every one to\n    be higher than me in heaven!\"\n\nThere was, however, some mitigation to the horrors of this voyage, for,\nduring it, he heard of his promotion to the rank of major-general,\nwhich gave him very great satisfaction, as he was beginning to fear\nthat, as the War Office authorities had failed to offer him an\nappointment worthy of his merits, they might also see fit to pass him\nover in the matter of promotion. Before he had heard the news he had\nwritten:--\n\n    \"Why am I not in the _Gazette_? I will not move, but it seems odd.\n    Anyway, if they do not promote me, I shall hope for strength to\n    bear it. _He_ is ruler, and I love Jesus irrespective of His mighty\n    rank and power. At Communion this morning I asked Christ to let me\n    rest, and then He should take the post of COMMANDANT-GENERAL, and\n    that I should be passive in the matter. Good-bye, my dear Augusta,\n    _fifteen years more_.\"\n\nHe arrived at the Cape on May 3rd, 1882, and at once made the\nacquaintance of the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, and the Premier,\nMr. Merriman. He found things in a very unsatisfactory condition, and\nnearly decided to have nothing to do with them. The Cape Government\nwere in an awkward position, the affairs of the Basuto war being in the\nhands of Mr. Orpen, in whom the Government had no confidence, but whom,\nfor party reasons, they did not like to remove. Consequently they could\nnot entrust matters entirely to General Gordon. He good-naturedly\nyielded to pressure, accepted the post of Commandant-General, on L1200\nper annum, and undertook to report to the Cape Government his\nsuggestions for the improvement of the army generally, as well as the\nbest means for bringing the Basuto trouble to a speedy termination. The\narrangement was a very unsatisfactory one, but, with that public\nspiritedness which so characterised him, Gordon threw himself\nthoroughly into the business, and, before the end of the month, he drew\nup a most able, statesman-like paper on the whole subject. With most it\nwould have been a piece of presumption for a man during a single month,\nmuch of which was spent in travelling, to attempt such a task, more\nespecially as some of the questions were extremely difficult. But such\nwas Gordon's capacity for work, and for grasping complex questions,\nthat not only was the paper he drew up most exhaustive, but, read in\nthe light of subsequent events, it shows how well-informed he was, and\nwhat an impartial mind he brought to bear on the subjects before him.\nHe read very quickly, he could at a glance grasp the salient points of\nany question, and, having a wonderfully retentive memory, no important\ndetail was lost sight of. He wrote both quickly and clearly, and had\nthe faculty of presenting his points in a lucid manner. Like many\nmilitary men, who are, when young, taken from their studies, he did not\nalways write in the best of English, but he made up for this in the\nremarkable manner in which he could marshal facts and arguments, and\nthe ease with which he carried his reader along. In his letters and\njournals he does not do himself justice as a writer, but in his\nofficial despatches and memoranda he shows that, not least among his\naccomplishments, was the gift of being able to write well, and to the\npoint. His memorandum on the reform of the Cape army was very able,\nthough too long to reproduce here. Briefly stated it showed how an army\nof 8000 men could be maintained instead of the 1600 men then under\narms, and at a reduced cost of L7000 per annum! He also pointed out how\nunjustly the Basutos had been treated, and suggested as a remedy that\nthey should be invited to assemble a general council in which to\nventilate their grievances, and that steps should be taken to remove\nthese grievances. He advocated giving them a semi-independent position,\nwith power to manage their own affairs, and to administer justice\nwithout the intervention of foreign magistrates, some of whom, in\nGordon's opinion, were very corrupt.\n\nThose who have studied the affairs of South Africa, and the history of\nChristian missions there, will not need to be told what an interesting\npeople the Basutos are. But for others, it may be as well to say that\nthis branch of the Kaffir race are not only among the most civilised of\nall the African races, but a large proportion of them are Christian in\nsomething more than name. The old chieftain Moshesh, who reigned some\nfifty years ago, was a man of marked ability, and, though a great\nsoldier, he hated war. Having heard of the work of the celebrated Dr.\nMoffat among the Korannas, he sent to invite this \"man of prayer, and\nteacher of the Christian religion,\" to visit him. To cut a long story\nshort, some French Protestant missionaries responded to the invitation,\nand were wonderfully blessed in their work. Hundreds of converts were\nreceived into the Christian Church, and instead of war and bloodshed\nprevailing, men were instructed how to cultivate fields and build\nhouses.\n\nIn the Kaffir war of 1852 Sir George Cathcart was informed that Moshesh\nwas the centre of intrigue, and, ill-advised, he attacked that\nchieftain and was defeated. When the attack was about to be renewed, he\nreceived from Moshesh the following message: \"O my master, I am still\nyour servant; I am still the child of the Queen. Sometimes a man beats\nhis dog, and the dog puts his teeth into his hands, and gives him a\nbite: nevertheless the dog loves the master, and the master loves the\ndog, and will not kill it. I am vexed at what happened yesterday; let\nit be forgotten.\" Fortunately Sir George Cathcart had sufficient\nnobility of character to appreciate this message. Peace was made, and\nSir George afterwards said of Moshesh, \"I found him not only to be the\nmost enlightened, but the most upright chief in South Africa, and one\nin whose good faith I put the most perfect confidence, and for whom,\ntherefore, I have a sincere respect and regard.\" Moshesh died in 1870,\nand the policy he had initiated was carried on by his successor\nMasupha.\n\nUnfortunately the Cape Government wanted to deprive the Basutos of\ntheir right to carry arms, and this they resented. Gordon's sympathies\nwere entirely with them. There were other abuses, such as bad\nmagistrates, which were even admitted by the Secretary for Native\nAffairs, and Gordon came to the conclusion that the Basutos had been\nvery badly treated. They were loyal to the Queen, but objected to being\nput under the Cape Government, disliking the Dutch element which has\nsuch influence at the Cape.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nOn the 18th July, 1882, the Cape Government proposed that General\nGordon should visit Basutoland, but he was of opinion that unless the\nGovernment saw their way to grant what he suggested, there was little\nuse in his going. In August, Mr. Sauer, the Secretary for Native\nAffairs, came to King William's Town, and asked Gordon to accompany him\ninto the Basuto country. Much against his own opinion Gordon yielded,\nand went as far as Leribe; but finding that the idea in the mind of Mr.\nSauer was that he might employ one portion of the Basutos to fight\nagainst the other, he remonstrated very strongly. Mr. Sauer then asked\nhim privately to visit Masupha, but gave him no instructions\nofficially. Gordon consented to do this much, but he let Mr. Sauer\nclearly understand that nothing would induce him to fight the Basutos,\nwith the object of forcing bad magistrates on them, or treating them\nunjustly. Hoping to avert the horrors of war, Gordon, unarmed and\nwithout a flag of truce or any commission, went into the middle of a\nhostile people, who had never even heard his name. The charm of manner\nwhich he ever manifested in his dealings with native races gained the\nday, and he secured the confidence of these people. In his speech to\nthem he said:--\n\n    \"I have come here as a friend of the Basutos. I showed myself a\n    friend, for when asked to come and fight, I would not. Now, when I\n    come, I want first to do good for Basutos. The Basutos are of a\n    good disposition. I say to the chief and people, How can Basutoland\n    belong to Basutos? I tell all that the Government want to do good\n    to the people. The Queen does not want the Colony to take land of\n    Basutos, and what the Colony and the Queen are afraid of is that if\n    abandoned the Basutos would be eaten up. I like the Boers; they are\n    brave, and like their own government; and when they fought, they\n    fought for their own government. England could have beaten the\n    Boers if they liked, but thought it unjust. Which do Basutos think\n    Dutch like best--Basutos or land? I think they like land best.\n    Supposing Colony abandoned this country, by-and-by they have\n    trouble with Free State; after that begins fighting; then I look\n    forward ten years, and I see Dutch farms close here. I do not want\n    that, the Colony does not, and the Queen does not, and no Basuto\n    either. Then I say, Basutos, make friends with the Government....\n\n    \"Suppose Boers drive you away, for me it would be all the same, and\n    not much difference when you are put in the ground. I wish the\n    Basutos would do what I say. What I want is for all to speak with\n    one tongue. I cannot make myself black. I cannot make Masupha and\n    his people do what I want, so I leave it to Jesus, who works\n    everything. This is all I have to say--Do what you like; think\n    well; pray to Jesus for advice.\"\n\nNo sooner had General Gordon gone on his peaceful mission than he\ndiscovered that Mr. Sauer had actually induced Lerethodi, a rival\nchief, to attack Masupha. This action not only endangered Gordon's\nlife, but outraged his sense of honour to such an extent, that he\ndecided forthwith to sever all connection with the Cape Government. It\nwas, to say the least, extraordinary conduct, to send a messenger of\npeace to a rebel chief, and then, without waiting for any reply, to\ninduce some of his own countrymen to attack and coerce him. It would\nperhaps not be fair to hold the whole of the Cape Government\nresponsible for the action of a single man, but this curious proceeding\nconfirmed General Gordon in an opinion he held, that white men often\nfail to practise towards the despised coloured men that honourable,\nupright dealing that might be expected from the leaders of civilised\nnations.\n\nMr. Arthur Pattison, writing to the _Times_ on the 20th August 1885,\nafter Gordon's death, said of Masupha, \"If you trust him\nstraightforwardly, he is as nice a man as possible, and even kind and\nthoughtful; but if you treat him the other way, he is a fiend\nincarnate. The late General Gordon divined his character marvellously,\nand was the only man Masupha had the slightest regard for.\" If our\nGovernment had more men of the type of General Gordon, we may rest\nassured that we should have fewer of these petty little \"nigger wars,\"\nwhich, more often than not, are brought on by incapacity and want of\nsympathy on the part of our representatives abroad. One great charm\nabout Gordon's character was his sympathy for the weak and helpless. It\nmattered not whether the helpless one were a king or a slave, so long\nas he was weak he was sure of having Gordon's sympathies and assistance\nin his troubles. Before leaving the Cape, Gordon made a most noble\noffer, which was that he should go on L300 per annum and live as a\nmagistrate among the Basutos, so as to protect them from their enemies,\nbut the offer was not accepted.\n\nThe way in which Gordon regarded his position is shown in the following\npassages from two of his letters:--\n\n    \"KING WILLIAM'S TOWN, _October_ 6, 1882.--The telegrams will show\n    you that the Cape Colony chapter of my life is over. I am so glad\n    to be free of all this turmoil. There will be a fearful row, but\n    these things have not moved me at all. I have thought more of a\n    scuttler who shed tears when I spoke to him of God's living in him,\n    than I have of all this affair.\"\n\n    \"SS. KINFAUNS CASTLE, _October_ 20, 1882.--I shall, D.V., be in\n    England when you get this. I shall go by sea to Gravesend, and on\n    to Southampton at once. Whether men praise you, it does not make\n    you better, or whether they blame you, it does not make you worse.\n    God judges by motives, men by actions (Thomas a Kempis). When I\n    went to the Cape I prayed for glory to God and the welfare of the\n    people, so I am glad _I_ got no glory out of it.\"\n\nIt may be well to introduce here a few words he wrote of the celebrated\nZulu king whom we deposed and imprisoned at the Cape.\n\n    \"_May_ 20, 1882.--I went to see Cetewayo, and felt for him, and\n    tried to cheer him. I gave him a stick with an ivory head--a\n    beauty--which had been given me by the Sultan of Perak, who was a\n    prisoner at the Seychelles. When I told Cetewayo that I had always\n    been interested in him and that he must have hope, with a deep\n    '_Ah!_' he pointed upwards. He is a fine savage.\"\n\nGeneral Gordon arrived in England on the 8th November 1882, after the\nclose of the Egyptian war, little thinking how closely that war would\naffect him. After a short stay at Southampton he left on December 28th\nfor Palestine, and nearly the whole of the year 1883 was spent in\nPalestine. Writing from Jerusalem he says:--\n\n    \"Everything looks small and insignificant, but quite meets the idea\n    I had of the _worldly_ position of the Jews and of our Lord. In\n    fact, the Scriptures tell the story without any pretence that\n    either the country, people, or our Lord were of any great\n    importance _in the world_. They are expositors of how very low\n    the position to which He, the Lord of lords, descended. You can\n    realise the fact as well in England as here, by substituting a\n    Scripture-reader of dubious birth and humble parents, exposing the\n    fallacy of a ceremonial church-going religion, and pointing out how\n    impossible it is to please God by such religious formalities....\n\n    \"The Temple of Solomon was fine for those days, but, setting aside\n    its Divine significance, it was only about six times as long as the\n    room you are in, and not much wider--60 cubits = 90 feet = 30 yards\n    long, by 20 cubits = 30 feet = 10 yards wide. You could walk round\n    the city in less than an hour; it is not quite three miles\n    round....\n\n    \"The ravines round Jerusalem are full of the dust of men, for over\n    a million bodies must have been slain there. What a terrific sight\n    the resurrection there will be! I suppose there is no place in the\n    world where so many bodies are concentrated....\n\n    \"It is nice sauntering about, conjuring up scenes of days gone\n    by--real scenes, actions on the stage of life; all gone! It quiets\n    ambition!\n\n    \"I came back from Gaza yesterday, after a ten days' sojourn there,\n    returning through Askelon, where there are very fine ruins,\n    enormous columns, marbles, &c, lying in all directions: it is a\n    wonderful place. Like all the coast, it is most dreary, yet one\n    sees that all the country was once thickly populated. Sand from the\n    shore is creeping in steadily, and makes it mournful. Napoleon I.,\n    Alexander the Great, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, and a host of\n    great men passed by this route. Titus came up by Gaza to Jerusalem.\n    Richard Coeur de Lion was years at Askelon. All gone, 'those old\n    familiar faces'!\"\n\nThe supposed sites of the holy places seem to have had peculiar\nfascination for his active brain, and he came to the conclusion that\nmost, if not all, of them were wrong. It would, however, occupy too\nmuch space to give the reasons which led him to this conclusion. Though\nwe cannot gather it from his own letters, a good deal of his time was\nmore profitably spent than in hunting up old sites. Dr. Cunningham\nGeikie, who was in Jerusalem when Gordon was killed at Khartoum, tells\nus:--\n\n    \"A poor dragoman told me that General Gordon used to come often to\n    his house in Jerusalem when he and his wife lay ill, and that he\n    would take a mat, and put it on the floor as a seat, there being no\n    chairs or furniture, and sit down with his Testament to read and\n    speak to them about Christ. Ascertaining that a doctor's account\n    had been incurred, he went off secretly and paid it. He gave away\n    all he had to the poor in Jerusalem and the villages round, and the\n    people mourn for him as for their father.\"\n\nHe made friends with some of the missionaries of the Church Missionary\nSociety, with whom he found himself much in sympathy. Speaking of the\nRev. J. R. L. Hall, he says, \"I have found a nice man now here (Jaffa),\nbut his mission is at Gaza. He is a Jew[10] by birth, but a man after my\nown heart. I may drop down there ere long and help him. He belongs to\nthe C.M.S.\"\n\n      [10] General Gordon was under a misconception as to the parentage\n      of Mr. Hall. As a matter of fact this missionary is descended\n      from a very old family in the county of Hampshire, and was no\n      more related to that ancient race than the General himself.\n\nThis Mr. Hall, in a speech afterwards made at Exeter Hall, told some\ninteresting things about General Gordon at this period of his life,\nwhich for want of space, cannot be reproduced at length here. He\nthoroughly identified himself with mission work, showing how much he\nvalued Christianity over all other religious systems. When he met Mr.\nHall he said, \"I am very restless; I came here for rest and quiet, to\nstudy the Word of God, and at the same time to discover different\nsacred sites. I am not satisfied; I am restless; I want Christian work.\nDo you think that if I were to come to Jaffa, you could give me any\nwork to do?\" He went to live at Jaffa for eight months. While he was\nthere instructions came from the central society for a mission-house to\nbe built at Nablous. There was no architect nearer than at Jerusalem,\nand his fee and expenses would have been very high. The missionaries\nagreed to consult General Gordon about drawing up the plans for the\nhouse, but were afraid of presuming too much on his kindness. When the\ndeputation from them arrived, he cut them short in their apology. \"I\nknow what you want; you want a contribution,\" said he. When told that\nthey wanted something much more valuable, he was delighted, and seizing\na pencil and paper wrote down exactly all they needed in the way of\naccommodation. He set to work, and before the day was over he had drawn\nup admirable plans and calculations. The mission-house was built on\nthose plans, and his estimate proved to be almost exactly the cost of\nthe building. He said to Mr. Hall:--\n\n    \"You thought that I should be annoyed at being asked to draw out\n    plans for a mission-house. If there is anything that I can do for\n    the cause of missions I am delighted to do it. What did I come to\n    Jaffa for? Did I not tell you at Haifa that if you could give me\n    some work to do for the Lord, that would set my mind at rest? I was\n    restless because I had been shutting myself up in Palestine, and\n    had not been putting out my powers for service in the Lord's work.\"\n\nThere are among Christian people some who take a deep interest in the\nspread of the Gospel at home, but do not exhibit the same interest in\nthe spread of Christianity abroad, and _vice versa_. During Gordon's\nstay at Gravesend he showed what a real interest he took in home\nmission work, and in his letters he frequently used to say that he\nshould like to end his days working in the east end of London. The time\nhe spent among the missionaries in Palestine shows that he took an\nequally deep interest in foreign missions, and before leaving that\ncountry he wrote, in reference to a conference of missionaries that was\nabout to be held at Gaza, \"I should like to go down there and meet the\nbrethren who assemble; it may be the last time that I can have any\nintercourse with a number of missionaries.\"\n\nOn the 15th October 1883 General Gordon received a telegram from the\nKing of the Belgians, asking him to go to Central Africa to govern the\nterritory that had been acquired by the International Association. The\nKing had once before pressed him to join this movement, which had for\nits object the opening up of Africa to trade and civilisation, and the\nconsequent abolition of slavery and cruelty. Mr. H. M. Stanley was at\nthe head of the movement, and Gordon offered to serve under him, and\nhad promised the Belgian king that when his services were required they\nwould be given. Stanley had resigned his post, and the time had come\nfor Gordon to redeem his promise. He at once telegraphed home for\nleave, and the reply came back, \"The Secretary of State has decided to\nsanction your going to the Congo.\" A telegraph clerk had made a\nmistake, and the correct message was, \"The Secretary of State has\n_declined_ to sanction your going to the Congo.\" As Gordon had,\nhowever, already promised the King of the Belgians to go, there was no\nalternative but for him to sever his connection with the British army.\nWith the full intention of placing his resignation in the hands of the\nSecretary of State for War, as well as to interview King Leopold, he\nleft Palestine at the end of the year 1883. He was travelling on the\nlast night of the old year, and he tells us that he spent that night in\nprayer in the railway carriage, of which he was the solitary occupant.\nAs the new year was ushered in, the lonely traveller between Genoa and\nBrussels little thought that it was to be almost his last,[11] and that\nsoon he would be permitted to throw off the earthly tabernacle, and put\non the crown of glory. His active brain was busily employed at this\ntime in considering how best he could wage war with human cruelty. He\nwas to have started on January 26, 1885, for the Congo, but a telegram\nreached him at his sister's house at Southampton, from Lord Wolseley,\nrequesting his presence in London, as an outcry was being made by\ncertain well-informed persons that the only man who was capable of\nsolving the Soudan difficulties was being permitted to leave the\nBritish army, and to go into the service of a foreign power, to busy\nhimself in the wilds of Africa.\n\n      [11] General Gordon is supposed to have been killed on 26th\n      January 1885.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV\n\nKHARTOUM\n\n\nIn order to understand aright the events that suddenly intervened and\nprevented General Gordon from fulfilling his engagement to the King of\nthe Belgians, it will be necessary to go back to the year 1882, and\nbriefly survey what occurred after that time. It will be remembered\nthat Gordon left the Soudan at the end of 1879, when the young Khedive\nTewfik was reigning in place of his father Ismail, who had been\ncompelled to resign. Tewfik unfortunately was not fit to rule, and\nEgypt above all things wanted a man who was not a mere puppet. His\nfather, with all his faults, had great force of character, and made\nhimself respected in the kingdom. The son was as weak as the father was\nstrong, with the result that his rule soon became nominal. When weak\nmen get into such positions, there is great temptation for stronger\nones to rise up and seize the reins of government. It is unnecessary to\nsketch the history of Arabi Pasha, or to recount in detail the\ncircumstances that brought him to the front. Enough for our purpose to\nmention that his name, little known before, was suddenly associated\nwith a great military revolt, and that the powers of Europe took alarm\nlest the Suez Canal should be blocked. But for that Canal, events in\nEgypt might have taken a very different turn, and that country might\nnow have had, what it sorely needs, a strong man at the head of\naffairs. England, having far more ships passing through the Canal than\nall the rest of the world together, intervened. Our fleet attacked\nAlexandria, and our troops under Lord Wolseley broke up the Egyptian\narmy at Tel-el-Kebir. From that time we have virtually been the rulers\nof the ancient kingdom of Egypt, the Khedive being little more than a\npuppet in our hands. He has all the social position and dignity of a\nKhedive, without the trouble or responsibility of having to govern.\n\nUnfortunately, soon after General Gordon relinquished the\nGovernor-Generalship of the Soudan, the Khedive, in spite of Gordon's\nprotest, appointed to the post about as bad a man as he could possibly\nhave selected. This was no other than Raouf Pasha, whom Gordon had\ntwice turned out of different appointments for playing the tyrant. No\nsooner was he appointed than there was a revival of all the horrors of\ncruel government, which Gordon had done so much to abolish. The\nfollowing are his own words in explanation of the origin of the\nrebellion:--\n\n    \"The movement is not religious, but an outbreak of despair. Three\n    times over I warned the late Khedive that it would be impossible to\n    govern the Soudan on the old system, after my appointment to the\n    Governor-Generalship. During the three years that I wielded full\n    powers in the Soudan, I taught the natives that they had a right to\n    exist. I waged war against the Turks and Circassians, who had\n    harried the population. I had taught them something of the meaning\n    of liberty and justice, and accustomed them to a higher ideal of\n    government than that with which they had previously been\n    acquainted. As soon as I had gone, the Turks and Circassians\n    returned in full force; the old Bashi-Bazouk system was\n    re-established; my old _employes_ were persecuted; and a population\n    which had begun to appreciate something like decent government was\n    flung back to suffer the vast excesses of Turkish rule. The\n    inevitable result followed; and thus it may be said that the egg of\n    the present rebellion was laid in the three years during which I\n    was allowed to govern the Soudan on other than Turkish principles.\"\n\nThere was a belief among the Mohammedans that the year 1882 would be an\neventful one for them. It closed the twelfth century of Mohammedanism,\nand the popular expectation was that a Mahdi, or another prophet, would\narise to reform Islam, and to abolish the tyranny of the rich and\npowerful. Predictions of this kind frequently bring about their own\naccomplishment. Before the time stated, a man named Mohammed Achmet had\narisen, declaring that he was the long-looked-for Mahdi, and crowds\nwere flocking to his standard.[12] With a powerful governor, such as\nGordon, the movement would have been quickly stamped out; indeed, so\nfew abuses existed under his rule, that there was then no demand for\nsuch a reformer. But with Raouf Pasha the case was reversed; not only\nwere there many abuses to be reformed, but there was a corresponding\nwant of ability to subdue such a movement. The Mahdi's forces grew\napace, for there existed plenty of material in the way of recruits.\nPassing over smaller engagements in which the Egyptian troops met the\nforces of the Mahdi, we come to one crowning disaster on the 5th\nNovember 1883, when an Egyptian army, numbering something like 12,000\nmen, under the command of Colonel Hicks, a retired Indian officer, was\nmassacred on the road between Khartoum and El Obeid. No blame can be\nattached to the commander on this occasion. Mr. Frank Power, the\n_Times_ correspondent at Khartoum, writes of him as follows: \"I pity\nHicks; he is an able, good, and energetic man, but he has to do with\nwretched Egyptians, who take a pleasure in being incompetent, thwarting\none, delaying and lying.\" The unfortunate men who composed his army had\nbeen dragged from their homes in chains, and many of them had never\nlearnt to fire a shot, or to ride a horse. Mr. Power predicted, before\nthe army left Khartoum, that fifty good men would rout the whole lot.\nThe Mahdi not only had upwards of 69,000 men on his side, but a large\nproportion of them were fine plucky fellows, worthy of a better foe.\n\n      [12] One writer thus describes the Mahdi:--\"Mohammed Achmet was a\n      native of Dongola, the son of a shipwright, formerly well known\n      there. From his early youth he was fond of meditation and\n      studying the Koran, rather than of working like his brothers; and\n      his tastes were encouraged. He became the disciple of a fakir, or\n      dervish, near Khartoum. In 1870 he took up his residence on an\n      island, where he gained reputation as a learned and devout man.\n      For a time he used this reputation only for selfish and sensual\n      ends. He took wives from among the Arabs, and thus made many\n      alliances, which he afterwards turned to account. After some\n      years he began to assume more ambitious claims, and declared\n      himself to be the true Mahdi.\"\n\nMr. Power says: \"The last that was seen of poor old Hicks was his\ntaking his revolver in one hand, and his sword in the other; calling on\nhis soldiers to fix bayonets, and his staff to follow him, he spurred\nat the head of his troops into the dense mass of naked Arabs, and\nperished with all his men.\" They had fought for three days and nights\nwithout a drop of water, the whole day under a scorching sun on a sandy\nplain. Gordon writing to a friend says: \"What a defeat Hicks's was! It\nis terrible to think of over 12,000 men killed; the Arabs just prodded\nthem to death, where they lay dying of thirst, four days without water!\nIt is appalling. What a hecatomb to death!\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nThat victory changed everything. Nothing succeeds like success; the\nMahdi became the hero of the hour in the Soudan, and his forces, it was\nsupposed, at one time numbered something like 300,000 men. Here then\nwere all the elements ready for a new Mohammedan crusade, and\nconsidering how much trouble the first Mohammedan crusade had given in\nEurope, it was not to be wondered at that there was fear and trembling\nin Egypt, the first country on the line of march of this huge fanatical\narmy, flushed with victory, believing their leader to be none other\nthan the long-expected reformer of Islam and conqueror of the world. A\nhurriedly-scraped-together force, consisting mainly of gendarmerie, was\nat once dispatched under Baker Pasha, _via_ Suakim, to relieve\nKhartoum, and attack the Mahdi. This force was so completely smashed up\nby Osman Digna within a few miles of Suakim that it had little effect\nupon the campaign, except to show that Egyptian troops were absolutely\nunfit to meet the forces of the Mahdi. If the tide of conquest was to\nbe rolled back it must be done by British troops. But England might\nwell ask what claim was there resting on her that she should give\nvaluable lives to be sacrificed, to say nothing of incurring the cost\nof a fresh campaign, simply because the corrupt Egyptian Government was\ntoo weak to rule its own territory?\n\nWhen once it became clear that Egyptian troops could not hold the\nSoudan, our Government rightly decided that the province must be given\nup. Unfortunately, there were scattered about in different parts of\nthat immense territory various Egyptian officials and bodies of troops.\nIt was calculated that including the women and children their number\nmust have been about 30,000. We had practically broken up the Egyptian\narmy, and virtually become the rulers of the country, so we as a nation\nhad a certain amount of responsibility in the matter. The problem was\nhow to withdraw that enormous number of human beings from the Soudan\ninto Egypt. What appeared to be needed far more than troops was a man\nwith a head on his shoulders, acquainted with the country, familiar\nwith the people and their habits of thought, and possessing force of\ncharacter to stand against the turbulent elements that had to be dealt\nwith. No sooner were the difficulties of the position recognised in\nEngland than an outcry arose that Gordon ought to be sent to undertake\nthe herculean task. Mr. Gladstone, in the House of Commons, has given\ncredit to Sir Charles Wilson as the first to suggest sending Gordon, as\nthe only man competent to deal with all the difficulties of the\nsituation. Both Mr. Gladstone and Sir Charles Dilke asserted in public\nthat the English Cabinet advised the Egyptian Government that Gordon\nwas the best man to send, but that the Khedive's ministers did not\napprove of this step. Sir Henry Gordon, in his biography states that\nSir Evelyn Baring, our representative in Egypt, does not even seem to\nhave consulted the Egyptian Government, but of his own accord declined\nto accept Gordon. It is quite clear that Sir Evelyn Baring and General\nGordon were not the best of friends, for Gordon later on complains: \"I\nhear very little from Cairo. Baring only telegraphs officially.\" It\ndoes not, however, much matter now who is to blame for the want of\nwisdom in not recognising in time that Gordon was the man for the\noccasion. That blunder, whosever fault it was, not only lost the Soudan\nto Egypt, but caused the death of many of our brave soldiers, to say\nnothing of Gordon himself. The Egyptian Government blundered on a\nlittle longer, till it was too late, and then the request that Gordon\nmight be sent was telegraphed home.\n\nNubar Pasha, who was the first to invite Gordon to Egypt many years\nbefore, was now the first to see that he ought to be sent for. This\nastute minister had only just come into office, and within eight days\nhe got Sir Evelyn Baring to telegraph to England for Gordon. There can\nbe little question now that the fatal delay of a single month sealed\nthe fate of the Soudan. Hicks Pasha's force was annihilated in November\n1883, but it was not till January 11, 1884, that General Gordon\nreceived a telegram from his old friend and comrade, Lord Wolseley,\nurging him to come to town at once for consultation, and though he did\nnot lose a single day he did not reach Cairo till January 24th. By that\ntime he ought to have been at Khartoum.\n\nBefore proceeding further, it may be well to say that so little was\nGeneral Gordon known at this time by his countrymen, that a country\ngentleman, who was a magistrate and a deputy-lieutenant in\nPembrokeshire, a county in which Gordon had formerly been stationed,\nremarked, on seeing the fact mentioned in the paper that \"Chinese\nGordon\" was going out. \"I see the Government have just sent a Chinaman\nto the Soudan. What can they mean by sending a native of that country\nto such a place?\" This story, which is mentioned by Sir William Butler,\nis quite characteristic of the ignorance that prevailed about the\nKhartoum hero, previous to his being selected as the one man who could\nsave Egypt from its troubles, and our Government from an awkward\nposition.\n\nIn a letter to his brother, dated 17th January, Gordon says, \"I saw\nKing Leopold to-day; he is furious.\" It must have been a great trial to\nthat kind-hearted monarch to have all his philanthropic plans thus\nupset, and he made Gordon promise that he would, if spared, go to the\nCongo when the Soudan was settled. So hard up for money was Gordon at\nthis time that he had to borrow from the king enough to pay for his\njourney to London. Fortunately it occurred to Lord Wolseley to ask\nGordon, a few hours before he was to start by the evening mail, if he\nhad sufficient money. Gordon had none, and as the banks had closed his\nlordship had some amusing adventures going about to raise L200, which\nhe did by borrowing small sums. As far as Gordon was concerned, his\nlordship might have saved himself the trouble, as L100 of the amount\nwas generously bestowed by him on Mahomet, his old blind secretary at\nCairo.\n\nThe _Pall Mall Gazette_, which was the first journal to advocate\nsending Gordon to the Soudan, and which first published his views on\nthat country, was represented at Charing Cross when the gallant General\nwas starting, and described the scene as a very unusual and interesting\none. Lord Wolseley carried the General's portmanteau; Lord Granville,\nthe Foreign Secretary, took his ticket; and the Duke of Cambridge held\nopen the door. Considering how little Gordon cared about grandees, it\nis amusing to note that he was waited on in a way that many\ntuft-hunters would envy.\n\nWriting before he had actually started, he said: \"I am averse to the\nloss of a single life, and will endeavour to prevent any happening _if\nI go_. I have a Bank, and on that I can draw; He is richer than the\nKhedive, and knows more of the country than any one; I will trust Him\nto help me out of money or any other difficulties.\" Again he writes,\nwhen at sea, 21st January: \"If people ask after me, tell them they can\ngreatly help me with their prayers, not for my earthly success, but\nthat my mission may be for God's glory, the welfare of the poor and\nwretched, and, for me, what He wills, above all for a humble heart.\"\nAnd to his friend Prebendary Barnes, he says: \"You and I are equally\nexposed to the attacks of the enemy--me not a bit more than you are.\"\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nOn January 24th he reached Cairo, where a good deal of excitement\nprevailed. Gordon apparently took it all very calmly. He had to remain\na couple of days, and during that time had a stormy interview with\nZebehr, who accused him of the murder of his son. Gordon's reply was\npractically that had full justice been done, Zebehr too would have paid\nthe death penalty. Though he had such a short time at Cairo, he found\nopportunity to interest himself in the affairs of a poor lad, the son\nof a native pastor of the Church Missionary Society at Jaffa. The boy\nhad been in a telegraph office at Jaffa, but had been unjustly\ndismissed. He went to Cairo for employment, and got into the telegraph\noffice. General Gordon had not forgotten him, and went to call on the\nyoung fellow, who was of course in quite a subordinate position, and\nmust have been not a little astonished at the visit of a man upon whom,\nat that time, the eyes of the whole civilised world were turned. \"How\nis your mother?\" was the first question Gordon put, the woman having\nbeen unwell when he was in Palestine. He then spoke to the head of the\ndepartment, with the result that the boy's position was improved\nconsiderably. Writing from Khartoum, Gordon said: \"I saw two pleasant\nthings at Cairo--Baring's and Wood's chicks;[13] and I heard one\npleasant thing--Mrs. Amos wanted me to see her lambs.\"\n\n      [13] Sir Evelyn Baring, the British representative, and Sir\n      Evelyn Wood, the commander-in-chief.\n\nGeneral Gordon had brought with him from England a very able staff\nofficer, Colonel Stewart, of the 11th Hussars, who knew Egypt well.\nHaving done all that was necessary in the way of interviewing officials\nat Cairo, the two proceeded together on January 26th, reaching Korosko\non February 1st, at which point they took to their camels, and dashed\ninto the Nubian Desert. All sorts of alarming rumours reached England\nas to Gordon's fate during this hazardous ride, but on February 13th he\nreached Berber in safety, and we heard that he had reached Khartoum on\nthe 18th. Mr. Power, the _Times_ correspondent, writing from Khartoum\non January 24th, said: \"I hear that Chinese Gordon is coming up. They\ncould not have a better man. He, though severe, was greatly loved\nduring the five years he spent up here.\" Again Mr. Power writes: \"Just\ngot a telegram from Mr. Bell, the _Times_ agent for Egypt, to say,\n'Gordon leaves Cairo to-night, and will be in Khartoum in eighteen\ndays.' The shortest time on record is twenty-four days; but Gordon\n(sword and Bible) travels like a whirlwind. No Arab of the desert\ncould, when he was up here, vie with him in endurance on camel back;\"\nand yet again, on February 9th, \"I don't believe the fellows in Lucknow\nlooked more anxiously for Colin Campbell than we look for Gordon.\" The\nsame pen described the scene he created on arrival, and the speech he\nmade. Thousands of the people crowded to kiss his hands and feet,\ncalling him the \"Sultan of the Soudan.\"\n\n    \"His speech to the people was received with enthusiasm. He said, 'I\n    come without soldiers, but with God on my side, to redress the\n    evils of the Soudan. I will not fight with any weapons but justice.\n    There shall be no more Bashi-Bazouks.' It is now believed that he\n    will relieve the Bahr-Gazelle garrisons without firing a shot.\n    Since they heard that he was coming the aspect of the people has so\n    changed that there are no longer any fears of disturbance in the\n    town. They say that he is giving them more than even the Mahdi\n    could give. He is sending out proclamations in all directions. Such\n    is the influence of one man, that there are no longer any fears for\n    the garrison or people of Khartoum.\"\n\nGeneral Gordon immediately reduced the taxation of the people by one\nhalf, and directed Colonel Stewart to examine into the case of each\nperson in prison. It was found that some prisoners had been awaiting\ntrial for months and some even for years, one poor woman having been\ndetained for fifteen years for a paltry offence committed when a child.\nAs many as possible were released, only the worst cases being detained.\nOne poor old Sheikh had to be carried into Gordon's presence, the\nex-governor of Khartoum having bastinadoed him so severely on the feet\nthat the flesh had all gone, and only the sinews and bones were\nshowing. Gordon was so indignant at this that he telegraphed to Cairo\nto have L50 stopped out of the pay of Hussein Pasha Cheri, and handed\nto his victim by way of compensation for such brutal treatment. He had\na collection made of kourbashes and other instruments of torture, and\nhad them all destroyed in a bonfire.\n\nWriting on February 22nd, Gordon says:--\n\n    \"I have all my old servants back, and it is like old times again. I\n    have not minced matters with the Pashas; it was useless to do so.\n    We have thousands of petitions daily. I have ordered an Arabic\n    text, 'God rules the hearts of all men,' to be put up over my\n    throne, to which I can refer when people come to me in fear....\n    There is, of course, a very mixed sort of feeling here about the\n    evacuation of the Soudan; the civil employes do not desire it, for\n    the half taxes will cause their pay to be diminished by half, and\n    the _personnel_ reduced.\"\n\nFrom Mr. Power's interesting correspondence we get pleasant little\npeeps at the private life of the great hero:--\n\n    \"Gordon is a most lovable character--quiet, mild, gentle and\n    strong; he is so humble too. The way he pats you on the shoulder\n    when he says, 'Look here, dear fellow, now what would you advise?'\n    would make you love him. When he goes out of doors there are always\n    crowds of Arab men and women at the gate to kiss his feet, and\n    twice to-day the furious women, wishing to lift his feet to kiss\n    them, threw him over. He likes my going so much amongst the\n    natives, for not to do so is a mortal sin in his eyes.... It is\n    wonderful that one man could have such an influence on 200,000\n    people. Numbers of women flock here every day to ask him to touch\n    their children to cure them; they call him the 'Father and the\n    Saviour of the Soudan.' He has found me badly up in Thomas a\n    Kempis, which he reads every day, and has given me an 'Imitation of\n    Christ.' He is indeed, I believe, the greatest and best man of this\n    century....\n\n    \"I like Gordon more and more every day; he has a most lovable\n    manner and disposition, and is so kind to me. He is glad if you\n    show the smallest desire to help him in his great trouble. How one\n    man could have dared to attempt his task, I wonder. One day of his\n    work and bother would kill another man, yet he is so cheerful at\n    breakfast, lunch, and dinner; but I know he suffers fearfully from\n    low spirits. I hear him walking up and down his room all night (it\n    is next to mine). It is only his great piety carries him through.\n    He and I agree in a great many religious views.\"\n\nMr. Power being an Irishman and a Roman Catholic, while General Gordon\nwas a Scotchman and a member of the Church of England, such testimony\nspeaks volumes for the General as well as for the writer. There can be\nlittle doubt that General Gordon had not known the brave young Irishman\nlong, before he had cast over him that fascinating spell which\ninvariably attracted and charmed young men. Cowper tells us that--\n\n    \"Truth embodied in a tale,\n    Shall entrance find at lowliest doors.\"\n\nMight not the poet have added that truth embodied in a life shall be\neven more efficacious in obtaining an entrance? Power's life was cut\nshort before he had an opportunity of doing much in the world, but the\nlittle that he was permitted to do shows us that he too was made of\nthat stuff which produces heroes; and as long as our country has such\nmen in reserve to fall back upon in times of emergency, there need be\nno fear of her not being able to maintain her supremacy among nations.\n\nHow unwavering was Gordon's faith in the providence of God, even in the\nmidst of difficulties that would have appalled most men, is shown by\nthe following letter:--\n\n    \"_February 27, 1884._--I have sent Stewart off to scour the river\n    White Nile, and another expedition to push back the rebels on the\n    Blue Nile. With Stewart has also gone Power, the British Consul and\n    _Times_ correspondent, so I am left alone in the vast palace of\n    which you have a photograph, but not alone, for I feel great\n    confidence in my Saviour's presence.\n\n    \"The peculiar pain, which comes from the excessive anxiety one\n    cannot help being in for these people, comes back to me at times. I\n    think that our Lord, sitting over Jerusalem, is ruling all things\n    to the glory of His kingdom, and cannot wish things were different\n    than they are, for, if I did so, then I wish _my will_ not _His_ to\n    be done. The Soudan is a ruin, and, humanly speaking, there is no\n    hope. Either I must believe He does all things in mercy and love,\n    or else I disbelieve His existence; there is no half-way in the\n    matter. What holes do I not put myself into! And for what? So mixed\n    are my ideas. I believe ambition put me here in this ruin; however,\n    I trust and stay myself on the fact that not one sparrow falls to\n    the ground without our Lord's permission; also that enough for the\n    day is the evil. 'God provideth by the way, strength sufficient for\n    the day.'\n\n    \"_March 1, 1884._--We are all right at present, and I have hope,\n    but certainly things are not in a good way; humanly speaking,\n    Baker's defeat at Suakim has been a great disaster, and now it has\n    its effects up here. 'It is nothing to our God to help with many or\n    with few,' and I now take my worries more quietly than before, for\n    all things are ruled by Him for His glory, and it is rebellion to\n    murmur against His will. Excuse a long letter.\"[14]\n\n      [14] This letter of 27th February and 1st March has been\n      presented to the Trustees of the British Museum, and is now\n      exhibited in the Manuscript Department.\n\nIt may be well at this point to consider the position of General Gordon\nin his official relationship to the Egyptian and English Governments,\nfor it is impossible to understand subsequent events accurately,\nwithout a proper apprehension of the exact state of affairs. When\nGordon was first sent out, his instructions were merely \"to report to\nHer Majesty's Government on the military situation in the Soudan, and\non the measures which it might be deemed advisable to take for the\nsecurity of the Egyptian garrisons still holding positions in that\ncountry, and for the safety of the European population in Khartoum,\n&c., &c.\" Added, however, to these instructions was an insignificant\nclause to which no one at the time attached much importance, and which\nran as follows, \"You will consider yourself authorised and instructed\nto perform such other duties as the Egyptian Government may desire to\nintrust to you, and as may be communicated to you by Sir E. Baring.\"\nThe Egyptian Government decided to make Gordon Governor-General of the\nSoudan, and the Khedive gave into his hands all the absolute power that\nhe himself possessed; this appointment was sanctioned by the British\nGovernment, and officially communicated to Gordon by Sir E. Baring. In\nview of this appointment, most readers will concur in the opinion of\nMr. Egmont Hake, the editor of Gordon's Journals, that \"it is as unfair\nas it is illogical to talk about General Gordon having exceeded the\ninstructions conveyed to him by Her Majesty's Government.\" The real\ntruth is that it was impossible for Gordon to exceed his instructions.\nHe himself again and again contended that while it was open to the\nKhedive to cancel the appointment, until that was done he was\nabsolutely master of the situation, to do as he thought best for the\ngood of the country.\n\nIt must not, however, be supposed that General Gordon availed himself\nof a flaw in his instructions to carry out a policy of his own. On the\ncontrary, he clearly understood from the British Government that\nevacuation was what was required, and that all the Egyptian employes\nmust be given a chance of leaving the Soudan if possible. From\nbeginning to end this was the one thing he held out as the object at\nwhich he aimed. All the suggestions he put forward were made with this\nend in view, and he never swerved from it. He was in reality more true\nto the instructions he received than were those who issued them. No\nsooner had he got into the country, and grasped the actual state of\naffairs, than he saw that things were looking very serious. The\ninterval between Hicks's defeat and his own arrival had been too\nprolonged. People who might have been loyal had lost heart and gone\nover to the Mahdi. Added to this, Gordon had himself made public the\nfact that the country was to be evacuated, so all who intended to\nremain behind saw that their best policy was to throw in their lot with\nthe Mahdi. Gordon blamed himself sometimes for having made known the\nintentions of the Government, but it is questionable if such an\nimportant fact could have been long kept secret. At all events, when he\nopenly promulgated it as Governor-General, he thought, and many thought\nwith him, that he was taking the line most likely to lead to a peaceful\nsolution.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nGeneral Gordon did not take long to make up his mind, and soon after\nhis arrival in Khartoum he astonished the English people by two steps\nhe took. The first was the issue of a proclamation announcing that the\ninstitution of slavery was not to be interfered with in any way; the\nsecond was an application that his old enemy, Zebehr Rahama, the great\nslave-dealer, should be sent up to govern the Soudan. At first sight\nGordon's action was amazing; but when it is more carefully examined in\nthe light of facts, it cannot be blamed. To take the proclamation\nfirst, it must be apparent to any one that when it was decided that the\nSoudan was to be given up, and that thenceforth neither Egypt nor\nEngland should interfere in its internal affairs, it would have been\nridiculous to go on talking about the abolition of slavery. Gordon had\nto face a fanatical body of Mohammedans who, rightly or wrongly, looked\nupon slavery as a religious institution. The feeling of the country was\nstrongly in favour of slavery, and if the country was to be left to\nitself slavery would continue to exist. Gordon did but make a virtue of\na necessity, and announce that henceforth outsiders would not interfere\nin the matter. Thus he took the wind out of the sails of the Mahdi and\nhis party, who could not say that they were fighting on behalf of one\nof their religious institutions.\n\nThe proposal to the English Government that Zebehr should be made ruler\nof the Soudan, was, as Mr. Hake truly says, \"one of those daring\nstrokes of policy which made his tactics unlike those of other men.\"\nThe telegram reached England on February 18, and must at first have\ncaused some of the Cabinet Ministers to think that Gordon had lost his\nhead. The last that they had heard on the subject of Gordon's\nrelationship with Zebehr, was the suggestion of the former that the\nlatter should be sent as a prisoner to Cyprus, to get him out of Egypt,\nwhere he thought he might give trouble. No wonder, then, if the\nministers were astonished to hear that their representative had changed\nhis mind so completely as to propose that instead of being imprisoned\nin Cyprus, his enemy should be sent to govern the Soudan!\n\nThose who have followed Gordon's tactics closely will not wonder so\nmuch at the proposal. Indeed it seems to have been a part of his creed\nto utilise his enemies, and thus if possible to turn them into friends.\nIn China he frequently enlisted hundreds of prisoners of war, converted\nthem into staunchest allies, and led them to victory against their old\ncomrades. He now wanted to apply in the case of Zebehr the principles\nhe had found so effective elsewhere. So long as he did not see his way\nto utilising this king of slave-hunters, he desired to have him kept\nout of the way, but when his brilliant genius saw a way of turning his\nold foe into a friend, he asked for his services. Unfortunately, Gordon\nwas not in the position of a Napoleon: he was hampered in the carrying\nout of his brilliant designs by those at home, who had neither his\nknowledge nor his capacity.\n\nWith regard to the proposed appointment of the great slave-hunter to be\nKing of the Soudan, opinions even now differ greatly. Lord Wolseley,\nSir Evelyn Baring, and most well-informed people are agreed that the\nrecommendation ought to have been acted upon, and that its adoption\nwould have been the means of saving many valuable lives, including\nGordon's, and of placing the Soudan under an authoritative government,\nwhich it has not yet obtained. But the English Cabinet felt that public\nopinion would be strongly opposed to such a step, and therefore they\nwould not sanction it.\n\nWhen Gordon left Cairo for Khartoum he thought that the best plan for\nthe Soudan, when the Egyptian Government withdrew, would be to replace\nit by the heirs of the petty Sultans, who had been deprived of their\npower when the Soudan was annexed by Mehemet Ali. But when he saw the\nreal state of affairs, he felt that these disunited kinglets would not\nbe strong enough to resist the power of the Mahdi. As for the Mahdi, he\nwas too much of a religious fanatic to have the government of the\nSoudan put into his hands. He was ambitious as well as fanatical; his\nobject was to overrun the whole world. Directly he ceased to be a\nconqueror, his people would cease to believe in his Divine mission, and\nhe would lose his power. At that time he possessed great power, and\nGordon felt that there must be a still more powerful man set up. There\nwas only one such man alive, and he was a prisoner at Cairo. The\nargument against Zebehr was that he had been an inveterate slave-hunter,\nand that to put him into supreme power would be to give him unlimited\nmeans of gratifying his vices. Against this it must be urged that under\nthe Mahdi's rule the kidnapping of slaves would be just as cruelly\ncarried on as under that of Zebehr. Also that with Zebehr, being a\nprisoner, it would be possible to make certain stipulations on the\nsubject of slave-hunting. Moreover, it was Gordon's intention\neventually to annex, for the Congo State, the great slave-hunting\ndistrict, and to rule that himself, so that Zebehr could not interfere.\nApart from these arguments, Gordon did not believe that Zebehr loved\nslave-hunting for its own sake, but rather for the wealth and position\nit gave him. He believed that if Zebehr were made Sultan of the Soudan,\nhis ambitious nature would be satisfied, and he would cease to hunt\nslaves, the _raison d'etre_ for such an occupation being gone.\n\nThere can be no question that Zebehr was a most able man, a born ruler\nand leader of men. He was an inveterate enemy of Gordon's, and at the\nmeeting which took place between Gordon and Zebehr at Cairo, when the\nformer was _en route_ to Khartoum, lookers-on considered that on no\naccount ought these two men ever to be in the Soudan together.\n\nIt was, however, one of Gordon's characteristics, and a great charm in\nhis nature, that he was not only forgiving, but that he never allowed\npersonal feeling to affect his judgment. He thought only of what was\ngood for the Soudan, and he was convinced that the only way to restore\nlaw and order there was to place Zebehr in power. One of the faults of\nour system of party government is that the Cabinet does not consider so\nmuch what is right in the abstract, as what will most affect the public\nmind. The national hatred of slavery is, in England, rightly very\nstrong; but circumstances alter cases. The Cabinet could not face\npublic opinion, although the public were at that time ill-informed, and\nignorant of many important elements in the case, and they consequently\nrefused to let Zebehr go.\n\nPublic opinion in England is generally in the right when the public\nhave been properly informed, and have had time to form an opinion. But\nit is not to be expected that the first impressions, formed by a large\nmass of people who have not been supplied with full information, are\nvery reliable. We ought therefore always to have a government in office\nstrong enough to resist, if need be, the first impression of public\nopinion, but willing to yield when the public have thoroughly made up\ntheir minds. The government in office at that time were not united\namong themselves, and consequently were weak, and afraid to face the\npublic. As a result, Gordon's policy was not carried out, and he fell a\nvictim. The Soudan is still without a settled government, and the\nproblem how it should be governed is as far as ever from being solved.\nAs for slavery, that institution alone has gained by the weak policy of\nthose who were afraid to send up the old slave-hunter to govern the\nunfortunate Soudan.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV\n\nTHE SIEGE\n\n\nOne of the most remarkable characteristics of General Gordon was the\nmarvellous fertility of his resources. Knowing that there would be a\ngreat deal of prejudice against employing Zebehr, he almost\nsimultaneously suggested an alternative scheme, which was that, as the\nEgyptians could not govern the Soudan, and the English would not,\nrather than let it fall into a state of anarchy it should be offered to\nthe Turks. There was much to be said for this suggestion. Turkey had\nonce ruled Egypt, and still exercised a suzerainty over it and all its\nbelongings, and if Egypt was not strong enough to rule itself and its\nannexations, it only seemed fair that the suzerain power should\nintervene to prevent its being grasped by an upstart like the Mahdi.\nBesides, the Sultan of Turkey is the head of the Mohammedan religion,\nand had therefore a special interest in suppressing the claims of a\nFalse Prophet.\n\nThat the scheme was no hastily-formed one, which he would see fit to\nchange later on for something else, may be gathered from the fact that\nGordon adhered to it to the very last. Nor was it a scheme suggested by\nthe immediate difficulties of his position, for in the month of\nOctober, when Lord Wolseley was on the way to relieve him, he writes:--\n\n    \"Give the country to the Turks, when once you have come to\n    Khartoum, with one or two millions sterling (which you will have to\n    spend in three months' occupation up here if you delay), make\n    arrangements at once with the Porte for its Soudan cession, let\n    6000 Turks land at Suakim and march up to Berber, thence to\n    Khartoum; you can then retire at once before the hot weather comes\n    on....\n\n    \"I do not advocate the keeping of the Soudan by us, it is a useless\n    possession, and we could not govern it, neither can Egypt (after\n    the late events). I am only discussing how to get out of it in\n    honour and in the cheapest way (we must remember we caused its\n    troubles), and that way is, either by some sort of provincial\n    government under Zubair, or by giving it to the Turks; it is simply\n    a question of getting out of it with decency. The Turks are the\n    best solution, though most expensive. _They would keep the Soudan_:\n    give them L2,000,000. The next best is Zubair, with L500,000 and\n    L100,000 a year for two years: he will keep the Soudan for a time\n    (in both cases slave trade will flourish), thus you will be quiet\n    in Egypt, and will be able to retreat in January 1885. If you do\n    not do this, then be prepared for a deal of worry and danger, and\n    your campaign will be entirely unprofitable and devoid of prestige,\n    for the day after you leave Khartoum the Mahdi will walk in and say\n    that he drove you out.\"\n\nBut the Government that had refused the assistance of Zebehr for fear\nof public opinion at home, were equally decided not to allow the\nassistance that might be obtained from the Turks, and this time, it\nmust be admitted, they had more reason on their side. There were\nalready too many complications connected with the government of Egypt\nto make it prudent to admit another possible element of discord. Earl\nGranville, the Foreign Secretary, therefore telegraphed as follows:--\n\n    \"Gordon should be at once informed by several messengers ... that\n    we do not propose to supply him with Turkish or other force for the\n    purpose of undertaking military expeditions, such being beyond the\n    scope of the commission he holds, and at variance with the pacific\n    policy which was the purpose of his mission to the Soudan; that, if\n    with this knowledge, he continues at Khartoum, he should at once\n    state to us the cause and intention with which he so continues.\"\n\nThis dispatch shows how little the powers in England actually\nunderstood the questions at issue, or the practical working of their\nown instructions. Gordon had been asked to undertake the withdrawal of\nthe Egyptian garrisons, and civil employes. Having accepted this duty,\nhe goes out, and finding the Mahdi's forces stronger than was supposed\nin this country, he sends home word that the task is a far more\ncomplicated one than the authorities in England knew of, and he\nsuggests other methods. His suggestions are not accepted, and he is\nasked why he continues at Khartoum, as if he could have left his duty\nunperformed with honour to himself, or credit to his country.\n\nGordon was anxious to evacuate the country as quickly as possible; in\nthis he was quite at one with his employers; but, on the spot, and\nknowing all the difficulties of the situation, he saw what they in the\ndistance could not see, that the evacuation was a practical\nimpossibility. The most distant garrison held by Egyptians was at\nSenaar, and if Gordon could have got to that place, a feat which it is\nmore than doubtful if even he could have performed, it is perfectly\ncertain that with the wretched troops he would have had to command he\ncould not have safely escorted the host of the Egyptian employes thence\nto Khartoum, while the whole intermediate country was in the hands of\nthe fanatical hordes owning allegiance to the Mahdi.\n\nThe commencement of his march from Senaar to Khartoum would have been\nthe signal for a repetition of the horrors of the march of our\nretreating army from Cabul to Jellalabad in 1842, the sole survivor of\nwhich has been immortalised in Miss Elizabeth Thompson's (Lady Butler)\ncelebrated picture, the only difference being that the heat and sand of\nthe Soudan would have been substituted for the cold and snow of\nAfghanistan. The Mahdi's forces would have at once occupied Senaar, and\nspread reports to the effect that they had driven out the Egyptians,\nwhile Gordon's party with very limited provisions would have been\nexposed to incessant attacks during the whole of their journey. A\nretreating army has always plenty of enemies; and it is doubtful if a\nsingle survivor would have reached Khartoum.\n\nOn the other hand, if either of Gordon's suggestions had been accepted\nand the country handed over to the Turks or to Zebehr, the towns at\nboth ends would have been held in force, and a suitable escort could\nhave been provided for the Egyptian employes. Gordon states his\nposition very fairly in the following brief telegram to Sir Evelyn\nBaring:--\n\n    \"You ask me to state cause and intentions in staying at Khartoum,\n    knowing Government means to abandon Soudan, and in answer I say, I\n    stay at Khartoum because Arabs have shut us up, and will not let us\n    out. I also add that if the road was opened the people would not\n    let me go, unless I gave them some government or took them with me,\n    which I could not do. No one would leave more willingly than I\n    would if it was possible.\"\n\nThere were some in authority who advocated leaving such a distant\ngarrison as Senaar to its fate, and wanted Gordon to retreat with the\nKhartoum force only, picking up the Berber force on the way home.\nAgainst this Gordon's generous heart revolted, and he was determined\nthat so long as he was Governor-General it should never be said that he\nleft his subordinates to perish. He thus telegraphs to Sir Evelyn\nBaring:--\n\n    \"Put yourself in my position, if you say 'rapid retreat, and leave\n    Senaar to its fate.' I will say, 'No, I would sooner die first,'\n    and will resign my commission, for I could not do it. If you say,\n    'Then you are no longer Governor-General,' then I am all right, and\n    all the responsibility is on you (for I could not be supposed, if\n    you turn me out of being Governor-General, to be obliged to aid\n    such a movement, which I think is disgraceful).\"\n\nWriting as late as October 24th, and assuming that Lord Wolseley had\nconquered the country, he says:--\n\n    \"I declare I do not see how we will get out of it (the Soudan) even\n    now; allow that you come to Khartoum, that you drive off the Arabs,\n    open the road to Senaar. What are you going to do? You will say,\n    'Take out those who wish to leave.' Well, you begin with Senaar,\n    and of course will have to fight all the way down. It will take\n    three months. During these three months, how are you to feed\n    Khartoum? for the moment you leave Senaar you leave your granary.\n    You get to Khartoum, you are face to face with 30,000 people who\n    will not leave, and who are hedging with the Mahdi; and with 3000\n    Shaggyeh all armed. You fight your way to Berber; another three\n    months, you have no food at Berber; then it will need another two\n    months to get to Dongola, which (seeing your policy) will be\n    hostile.\n\n    \"It is indeed a terrible problem, and I wish I could see my way out\n    of it. Then you come into the hot months, and low Nile. This time\n    next year will not see you out of the Soudan with decency. Of\n    course you can go back now, but what was the use of your coming? I\n    will not allow that you came for me. You came for the garrisons of\n    the Soudan. Now, by the Turkish arrangement, if you act promptly,\n    you can get away quietly in January 1885.\"\n\nNot only, however, did the British Government refuse to adopt either of\nGordon's alternative proposals, but they neglected until August 12th to\ntake any other measures for relieving the garrisons. Yet all the time\nthe gallant General felt that he had not a free hand, and could not\ntake independent action, for he writes in his journal:--\n\n    \"Truly the indecision of our Government has been, from a military\n    point of view, a very great bore, for we never could act as if\n    independent; there was always the chance of their taking action,\n    which hampered us.... It is truly deplorable, the waste of men and\n    money on account of our indecision.\"\n\nThe mistake our Government made was the old one of endeavouring to\ncontrol details in distant countries from Downing Street, instead of\nsending out the best man to the spot, and giving him more or less of a\nfree hand.\n\nAt last, on April 16th, Gordon telegraphed to Sir Evelyn Baring at\nCairo:--\n\n    \"As far as I can understand, the situation is this: You state your\n    intention of not sending any relief up here or to Berber, and you\n    refuse me Zebehr. I consider myself free to act according to\n    circumstances. I shall hold on here as long as I can, and if I can\n    suppress the rebellion I shall do so. If I cannot, I shall retire\n    to the Equator, and leave you the indelible disgrace of abandoning\n    the garrisons of Senaar, Kassala, and Dongola, with the certainty\n    that you will eventually be forced to smash up the Mahdi under\n    great difficulties, if you would retain peace in Egypt!\"\n\nBut though Gordon saw that it was impossible to attempt an immediate\nevacuation with something like 50,000 men, women, and children, he did\neverything that lay within his power to get rid of as many refugees as\npossible during the few weeks that he was in Khartoum before the means\nof communication were cut off. The measures he took were described by\nColonel Duncan, M.P., at that time in command of a station on the Nile,\nthrough which the refugees had to pass _en route_ to Egypt, in a\nspeech made some time afterwards, as follows:--\n\n    \"Last year, after the arrival of General Gordon at Khartoum, I was\n    sent to the northern end of the Korosko desert to facilitate the\n    passage of the refugees from Khartoum to Egypt. It was then that I\n    realised the true nature of Gordon, who was not a mere sentimental\n    philanthropist, but a man of business as well as a man of courage.\n    At that time the telegraph wire between Khartoum and where I was\n    stationed was still uncut; and with marvellous monotony, I might\n    say, batch after batch of the sick and the injured, of women and\n    children, used to be sent by Gordon to me. They used to arrive in\n    an almost perfect state of comfort, with all the necessary papers\n    enabling me to disperse them among their different villages in\n    Egypt. One of the first messages the General sent to me was this,\n    'Do try and find a motherly European woman to receive these poor\n    women and children, for they have never been in Egypt yet before.'\n    With the regularity of clockwork over 2000 refugees arrived, all\n    the arrangements for their transport from Khartoum to Berber having\n    been made by Gordon.... Two thousand five hundred men, women, and\n    children were saved by the direct action and the direct humanity of\n    Gordon himself, long before the expedition set out for Khartoum.\"\n\nIt is evident that the impression among the three Englishmen at\nKhartoum was, that the English Government had deserted Gordon, and\nintended to leave him there to die. Both Colonel Stewart and Mr. Power\nnobly decided that they would not forsake him in his hour of need, and\nthat, happen what might, they would remain with him.\n\nThough plenty of skirmishes took place, there was no real fight that\nmight be dignified by the name of a battle till the middle of March.\nSome 4000 of the Mahdi's force had cut off about 800 of Gordon's men at\na village called Halfaya, on the north of Khartoum, and, as the\ndetachment could not retreat, Gordon decided to attempt to relieve\nthem. By means of steamers he succeeded in extricating them from\ndanger, but he could not drive away the rebels who held Halfaya in\nstrong force.\n\nOn the 16th, therefore, he sent Colonel Stewart to attempt to dislodge\nthe enemy, and the following is his own description of what actually\noccurred:--\n\n    \"At 8 A.M. on the 16th, two steamers started for Halfaya.\n    Bashi-Bazouks and some regulars advanced across plain towards\n    rebels. At 10 A.M. the regulars were in square opposite centre\n    of rebels' position, and Bashi-Bazouks were extended in their line\n    to their right. The gun with regulars then opened fire. Very soon\n    after this a body of about sixty rebel horsemen charged down a\n    little to the right of centre of Bashi-Bazouks line. The latter\n    fired a volley, then turned and fled. The horsemen galloped towards\n    the square, which they immediately broke. The whole force then\n    retreated slowly towards the fort with their rifles shouldered. The\n    horsemen continued to ride along flanks, cutting off stragglers.\n    The men made no effort to stand, and the gun was abandoned with\n    sixty-three rounds and fifteen cases of reserve ammunition. The\n    rebels advanced, and retreat of our men was so rapid that the Arabs\n    on foot had no chance of attacking. Pursuit ceased about a mile\n    from stockade and the men rallied. We brought in the wounded.\n    Nothing could be more dismal than seeing these horsemen, and some\n    men even on camels, pursuing close to troops who, with arms\n    shouldered, plodded their way back.\"\n\nThe result of this, the first real battle, showed Gordon the\nhopelessness of his position. Colonel Stewart was wounded, though not\nvery seriously, and Gordon saw that not only were his men cowards, but\nthey were treacherous as well. At one time the rebels were actually\nretreating when two of Gordon's generals, Hassan and Seyid, by name,\nactually rode after them and summoned them back. Need it be added that\nan army, seeing itself thus betrayed by its own leaders, lost all heart\nand bolted, leaving two valuable guns in the hands of their opponents.\nIt is satisfactory, however, to be able to record that both these\ntraitors were tried by court-martial and shot.\n\nGeneral Gordon made every effort to avoid further bloodshed by opening\nnegotiations with the Mahdi, and even going so far as to offer to make\nhim Sultan of Kordofan. The False Prophet briefly replied, \"I am the\nMahdi,\" which was a polite way of saying that it would be beneath his\ndignity to accept such a subordinate post. He, however, sent Gordon a\ncourteous letter, urging him to become a Mohammedan. As Gordon declined\nthis offer all negotiations between the two were closed.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nTowards the end of April Gordon wrote that the Nile was beginning to\nrise. It continues to rise during May, June, and July, and is so high\nduring the last-mentioned month that boats can pass the numerous\ncataracts with comparative safety. This is the season of which an\nexpedition should have taken advantage for the Nile campaign.\nUnfortunately the greatest empire of the world was at this time ruled\nby a disunited Cabinet, and party conflicts were going on at home.\nThere may be much to be said in favour of party government, but there\ncan be no question that to it is due the disgrace of England in the\neyes of the whole civilised world, for having sent one of her bravest\nheroes into the heart of a hostile country in Africa, and then left him\nto perish. The blame in the matter is often cast solely upon the\nLiberals. Those who are not political partisans must see that this is\nnot a fair way of stating the truth. The government in office was a\nLiberal one, but it cannot be said that it is a part of their programme\nto leave English heroes to perish. Lord Palmerston, the old Whig\nleader, would have been the first to denounce such a policy. The fact\nis, the fault was not due to either party as such, but to the party\nform of government that unfortunately prevails in this country. The\nopposite party might have fallen into the same mistake, had they been\nin the same position. The Government was afraid to split up its\nsupporters by engaging in another war so soon after the Egyptian and\nSuakim campaigns. But, be the cause what it may, the fact remains that\nmuch valuable time was lost, in spite of Lord Wolseley's remonstrances,\nwho said with truth--\n\n    \"Remember, we can command many things, but all the gold of England\n    will not affect the rise and fall of the Nile, or the duration of\n    the hot and cold seasons in Egypt. Time is a most important element\n    in this question, and it will be indeed an indelible disgrace if we\n    allow the most generous, patriotic, and gallant of our public\n    servants to die of want, or fall into the hands of a cruel enemy,\n    because we would not hold out our hands to save him.\"\n\nPublic opinion at last grew too strong for the Government, and orders\nwere given on August 12th to commence making the boats that were to\nconvey the troops up the river Nile. The official report of the\ncampaign states that there were only 104 vessels on the Nile that were\nable to pass the cataracts on the upper part of the river, so that\nboats of some sort had to be taken out. From August 12th till the final\ndisaster took place no reasonable time was lost, but it takes time to\ntransport a large army over such obstacles as had to be surmounted. It\nhas been truly said that the campaign of the Nile was far more a\nconflict with Nature than with man. We might, however, have overcome\nNature had we only taken the field earlier in the day.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nWhen Gordon realised how thoroughly the enemy had invested Khartoum,\nand that all supplies from outside were cut off, he wisely decided to\nreduce the number of persons inside the beleaguered city. There were,\nit was estimated, something like 10,000 who were in sympathy with the\nenemy, and who not only ate food, which was most valuable, but were a\nsource of weakness to the defenders. Consequently the General gave them\npermission to go over to the enemy, which they did with alacrity. He\nwas after all only acting on the sensible advice he gave the leader of\nthe Taipings in China, who was retaining a large force of white men\nagainst their wills in the city of Soo-chow, of whom Gordon's rival,\nBurgevine, was one (see page 60). The Khartoum general gained\nconsiderably more than the enemy by this bold yet humane stroke of\npolicy, as he got rid of 10,000 traitors, who would have very soon\ndemoralised his whole force.\n\nThe greater the difficulties became the nobler Gordon's character\nappears. No sooner was he absolutely cut off from the outer world than\nhe fell back on his boundless fertility of resources, and showed\nhimself to be at the same time a skilful general, a brave soldier, a\nfar-seeing statesman, and a clever financier. The defences of the town\nwere attended to, and the whole place so well covered with obstacles\nand mines, that it might have been defended for years, had the food\nsupply only held out. Cartridges were manufactured on an enormous\nscale; the General calculated that over half a million were fired away\nduring four months of the siege. Eight steamers, which were nothing\nmore than ordinary vessels, similar to the \"Penny Steamers\" on the\nThames, were armour-plated, and made to act as miniature men-of-war,\nnew ones were built, old ones were fitted up and adapted, and landsmen\nwere trained to take them into action. \"Our steamers,\" Gordon said,\n\"are blinded and bullet proof, and do splendid work, for you see they\ncannot run away, and must go into action.\" The food supply, such as it\nwas, was regulated so that nothing should be wasted, and paper money\nwas issued, redeemable in six months. So great was the faith of the\ninhabitants in Gordon's ultimate success that L2500 worth of this paper\nmoney was in circulation by the end of April, and L26,000 worth was\nissued before the end of July. In addition, the merchants advanced to\nhim upwards of L50,000.\n\nFor six long weary months General Gordon held out at Khartoum. Till the\n9th of September he had at all events the companionship of his two\nbrave countrymen, Colonel Stewart and Mr. Power. But for the remaining\nmonths of the siege he was deprived of even this comfort, and had to\nstand at the post of duty single-handed, as far as his own countrymen\nwere concerned. On the 26th August the authorities at Cairo received a\ntelegram from Gordon to the effect that now that the Nile had risen,\nand the way from Khartoum to Dongola was opened for a steamer, he\nintended to attack Berber and capture it, and thence to despatch\nColonel Stewart and Mr. Power to Dongola. His object was to publish to\nthe outside world the real facts of the terrible position at Khartoum,\nand to enable Colonel Stewart to urge on the authorities the necessity\nof at once despatching troops to the rescue; for he had not received\nany notification that a few days before this time--namely, on August\n12th--the Government had decided to send an expedition for his relief.\nColonel Stewart brought Gordon's Diary of Events up to the date of his\nstarting, and was accompanied by Mr. Power, M. Herbin, the French\nConsul, and about fifty soldiers. They went in the _Abbas_, a small\npaddle-boat drawing only two feet of water. The following remark is\nmade in Gordon's Journals in reference to the departure of Colonel\nStewart in this vessel:--\n\n    \"Stewart said he would go if I would exonerate him from deserting\n    me. I said, 'You do not desert me. I--I cannot go, but if you go\n    you do me a great service.' I then wrote him an _official_. He\n    wanted me to write him an order. I said, 'No, for though I fear not\n    responsibility, I will not put you in any danger which I am not in\n    myself.' I wrote then a letter couched thus: '_Abbas_ is going\n    down. You say you are willing to go in her if I think you can do so\n    with honour. You can go in honour, for you can do nothing here, and\n    if you go you do me service in telegraphing my views.'\"\n\nThe _Abbas_ started together with two other steamers on the night of\nSeptember 9th, and having shelled Berber proceeded on her way to\nDongola, the two other vessels returning. On the 18th the _Abbas_\nstruck on a rock. When Colonel Stewart saw that further progress was\nhopeless, he spiked the guns and threw them, with the ammunition, into\nthe river. He then went on shore to arrange for the purchase of some\ncamels to take his party on to Dongola. He was accompanied to the house\nof a blind man, named Fakri Etman, by Power and the French Consul. The\nSheikh Suleiman Wad Gamr was present and invited them on shore, only\ninsisting that the soldiers must not come armed for fear of frightening\nthe people. To this Colonel Stewart agreed, and was the only one who\nwas armed, he carrying a small revolver. Suleiman accepted from Colonel\nStewart a sword and a dress as gifts. When Stewart and his party were\nin the house, Suleiman came outside and made some signs to his people,\nwho were hanging about in large numbers. Immediately they divided into\ntwo parties, one proceeding to the house, the other to the steamer's\ncrew landed on the bank, and the whole were massacred. News has\nrecently reached Cairo to the effect that the perpetrator of this\ncold-blooded and treacherous murder has at last paid the penalty of his\ncrime, being slain in a conflict with Saleh Bey. All the official\ndocuments that Gordon had sent for the British authorities fell into\nthe hands of the Mahdi, giving him the most exact information as to the\nsupply of ammunition and food within the walls of Khartoum. These\ndocuments were at once sent to the Mahdi, and it is generally supposed\nthat at this present moment they are lying in the Fort at Omdurman,\noutside Khartoum.\n\nThe loss of the _Abbas_ was a cause of great grief to General Gordon,\nand again and again he refers to it. Writing on November 5th he says:--\n\n    \"I cannot get out of my head the _Abbas_ catastrophe; that the\n    _Abbas_ (with her 970 bullet marks on her, her gun, and her\n    parapets, which were bullet proof) could be captured by force seems\n    impossible; that she ran upon a rock seems unlikely, for she had\n    her sides defended by buffers, sunk one foot in water. I also\n    warned them against ever anchoring by the bank, also to take wood\n    from isolated spots; in fact as far as human foresight goes, I did\n    all my possible.... You will notice the number of Greeks (on\n    board). They were a bodyguard I ordered and paid highly, to prevent\n    any treachery on the part of the crew. Thus the question of\n    treachery was duly weighed by me, and guarded against, as far as I\n    could--both on the part of the crew, and on the part of the\n    inhabitants--and I told them to anchor mid-stream, and not to take\n    wood except in isolated spots.\"\n\nOne can only echo the words of Mr. Egmont Hake: \"It is impossible to\nread this without a feeling of admiration for the thorough way in which\nGeneral Gordon examined into the minutest details of everything\nhimself. Every precaution human foresight could conceive he took to\nensure the safety of the _Abbas_ and her crew; having done this, her\nfate was in higher hands than his.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI\n\nTHE FALL OF KHARTOUM\n\n\nFortunately for the public, as soon as Colonel Stewart left, Gordon\ncommenced, in addition to all his other duties, writing journals of\nevents at Khartoum, in which doubtless he recapitulated much of what\nhad been given in the Diary of Events he had sent with Stewart. On\nSeptember 21st, the General received authentic news that an expedition\nwas actually on its way to Khartoum. On September 30th he sent five\nsteamers to Metemmah to meet the advancing army, so that there should\nbe no delay on his part in rendering help. By the steamers he sent his\nJournals made up to date, and it is from these that authentic\ninformation is obtained. The despatch of these steamers to Metemmah was\na most unselfish act on his part; indeed, it is by no means certain\nthat their presence at Khartoum might not have prevented the crowning\ndisaster later on. He calculated that each steamer was worth to him at\nleast 2000 men, so that he practically reduced his force by something\nlike 10,000 men in order to assist the Relief Expedition. Since the\nNile had risen these vessels had considerably increased in utility, and\nthey had been most valuable in the defence of Khartoum. Each was well\nprovisioned, so that they would not have required to draw on the\nslender resources of the garrison.\n\nOn November 5th Gordon says:--\n\n    \"A curious thing has happened; my friend Kitchener sent up the\n    post; he wrapped the letters in some old newspapers (he gave me no\n    news in his letter), the old newspapers were thrown out into the\n    garden: there a clerk who knew some English found them blowing\n    about, and gave them to the apothecary of the hospital, who knows\n    English. The doctor found him reading them, saw date 15th\n    September, and secured them for me; they are like gold, as you may\n    imagine, since we have had no news since 24th February 1884! These\n    papers gave us far more information than any of your letters. Did\n    K. send them by accident or on purpose?\"\n\nIn the newspaper appeared the following statement in the form of a\nheading: \"Lord Wolseley seen off at Victoria Station for the Gordon\nRelief Expedition.\" To this Gordon appended, \"_No! for the relief of\nthe Soudan garrisons_;\" and he extracted another statement to the\nfollowing effect, \"An official telegram received here from Wady Halfa\nstates that, owing to the unprecedented lowness of the Nile, no\nconfidence is felt in the practicability of hauling boats over the\ncataracts till the end of September.\" General Gordon pasted this into\nthe Journal, and wrote opposite to it, \"It was not a low Nile, it was\nan average Nile, only you were _too late_\"--a verdict which events\nonly too completely justified. It will be of interest to give here a\nfew brief extracts selected from Gordon's remarks regarding the Relief\nExpedition:--\n\n    \"If it is right to send up an expedition now, why was it not right\n    to send it up before?\"\n\n    \"We are a wonderful people; it was never our Government which made\n    us a great nation; our Government has been ever the drag on our\n    wheels.\"\n\n    \"I am afraid to say what numbers have been killed through this\n    present policy, certainly some 80,000; and it is not over yet.\"\n\n    \"I altogether decline the imputation that the projected expedition\n    has come to relieve me. It has come to save our national honour in\n    extricating the garrisons, &c., from a position in which our action\n    in Egypt had placed these garrisons. I was relief expedition No. I.\n    They are relief expedition No. II. As for myself I could make good\n    my retreat at any moment if I wished. Now realise what would happen\n    if this first relief expedition was to bolt and the steamers fall\n    into the hands of the Mahdi; this _second_ relief expedition (for\n    the honour of England engaged in extricating garrisons) would be\n    somewhat hampered. We, the _first_ and _second_, are equally\n    engaged for the honour of England. This is fair logic. Earle[15]\n    comes up to extricate garrisons and (I hope) succeeds. Earle does\n    not come to extricate me.... I am not the _rescued lamb_, and I\n    will not be.\"\n\n      [15] Gordon thought that General Earle was to be in command of\n      the whole force. As a matter of fact he was in command of the\n      brigade that was going by water the whole way to Khartoum. He was\n      killed on the way.\n\nIn spite of his great anxiety, and the worries through which he was\ncalled to pass, Gordon never seemed to lose his sense of humour. There\nare many amusing entries in his Journals, of which the following may be\ntaken as fair specimens:--\n\n    \"A horse escaped from the Arabs, formerly belonging to Government.\n    It gave _no_ information; but from its action, may be supposed _not\n    to believe in the Mahdi_.\"\n\n    \"It is really amusing to find (when one can scarcely call one's\n    life one's own) one's servant, _already_ with one wife (which most\n    men find is enough), coming and asking for three days' leave, in\n    order to take another wife. Yet such was the case, a few days ago,\n    with one of my servants.\"\n\nHis comments on the Mahdi are also amusing:--\n\n    \"The Greek (refugee) who came in told the Greek Consul that the\n    Mahdi puts pepper under his nails, and when he receives visitors\n    then he touches his eyes and weeps copiously; that he eats a few\n    grains of dhoora openly, but in the interior of the house he has\n    fine feeding and drinks alcoholic drinks.... After this pepper\n    business! I think I shall drop any more trouble in writing him\n    letters, trying to convince or persuade him to reasonable measures.\n    I must confess that the pepper business has sickened me; I had\n    hitherto hoped I had to do with a regular fanatic, who believed in\n    his mission, but when one comes to pepper in the finger nails, it\n    is rather humiliating to have to succumb to him, and somehow I have\n    the belief that I shall not have to do so....\n\n    \"One cannot help being amused at this pepper business. Those who\n    come in for pardon, come in on their knees, with a halter round\n    their neck. The Mahdi rises, having scratched his eyes and obtained\n    a copious flow of tears, and takes off the halter. As the\n    production of tears is generally considered the proof of sincerity,\n    I would recommend the Mahdi's receipt to Cabinet Ministers,\n    justifying some job.\"\n\nIt is not necessary to enumerate the number of encounters that took\nplace between Gordon's men and the Mahdists; he took little personal\npart in these engagements. The fiery spirit of the young soldier, who\nled his own troops in China, had not expended itself, but was kept in\nsubjection by a higher spirit. He knew that much was staked on his\nlife, and that the risk was too great. There was no one to succeed him;\nhis death meant defeat to his cause, and ruin to the country for which\nhe had done so much. Speaking generally, therefore, he did not expose\nhimself more than he could help. But though he avoided rashness in any\nform, he was a good deal exposed to danger, and the palace in which he\nlived was an object on which the enemy expended much of their\nammunition.\n\nThe Mahdi had kept himself as far from Gordon's reach as possible, by\nremaining at Obeid, while his troops conducted the investment of\nKhartoum. But when the new year of the Mohammedan Calendar commenced,\non October 21st, and the Mahdi had heard, through the capture of\nColonel Stewart's papers, of the difficulties that Gordon was in, he\nappears to have mustered his courage and to have brought up 30,000 men\nto intimidate Gordon. When called upon to surrender the following was\nthe reply that Gordon returned: \"If you are the real Mahdi, dry up the\nNile and come over, and I will surrender.\" It is said that the Mahdi\ntook him literally, and lost 3000 men in an attempt to walk across the\nNile! Be that as it may, the Mahdi ordered an attack, which was\nconducted with some vigour. It was resisted successfully by Gordon,\naided by his twelve steamers and 800 men, but the fighting must have\nbeen severe, for it lasted for eight hours. The bursting of mines and\ntorpedoes carried more havoc into the ranks of the enemy than Gordon's\nmen did. Material things of this kind at least responded to the will of\nhim who organised them, and did not prove cowardly or treacherous.\n\nThe Mahdi then retreated to a more respectful distance, and, it is\nsaid, hid himself in a cave, prophesying that there should be sixty\ndays of rest, and that then blood would flow like water. The real truth\nof the matter is that the Mahdi's military advisers saw that there was\nlittle use in attempting to capture Khartoum by direct assault. Having\nfull information from Stewart's papers that the food supply could not\nlast long, they prudently decided to starve out the garrison.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nEnglish officers have before now gone through trying sieges, as, for\ninstance, Lawrence and Havelock at Lucknow, and Sale at Jellalabad, but\nit would be difficult in the whole of the military history of England\nto find a case in which an officer was left single-handed to contend\nwith such frightful odds for so long a time. The siege lasted 317 days,\nvery nearly as long as the siege of Sebastopol. English officers have\nusually had a few of their own countrymen, on whom they could rely and\nwith whom they could take counsel, to share their hardships. But Gordon\nstood alone, and the troops he had were not only foreigners, but, with\na few exceptions, they were cowards, and he knew that very few of them\nwere really loyal to him. Nothing but his extraordinary personality\nkept the force together. His opinion of these miserable troops is\nfrequently expressed in his Journals. The following passages are\nexamples:--\n\n    \"_October 31st._--I have ever felt the greatest insecurity\n    respecting the lines, for I believe 100 determined men would carry\n    them with ease, if they made their attack on the Shaggyeh or\n    Bashi-Bazouk part.... The Cairo Turkish Bashi-Bazouks, the\n    Shaggyeh, and the Fellaheen soldiers, I will back against any\n    troops in the world for cowardice.\"\n\n    \"_November 17th._--I certainly lay claim to having commanded, more\n    often than any other man, cowardly troops, but this experience of\n    1884 beats all past experiences; the worst of the matter is that\n    you cannot believe one word the officers say.\"\n\nOn November 2nd he writes: \"Six weeks' consumption! and then the sponge\nmust be thrown up.\" Fortunately, he discovered on November 11th that a\nrobbery by some corrupt Egyptian officials had been going on, and that\n2-1/2 million lbs. of biscuit--worth L9000 at any time, but at least\nL26,000 during the siege--had been stolen. The recovery of this helped\nhim to hold out a little longer. On December 13th he writes:--\n\n    \"We have in hand 1,796,000 rounds Remington ammunition; 540 rounds\n    Krupp; 6000 rounds mountain gun ammunition; L140 in specie; L18,000\n    in paper in treasury! L60,000 in town in paper; 110,000 okes of\n    biscuits; 700 ard ebs of dhoora....\n\n    \"We are going to send down the _Bordeen_ the day after to-morrow,\n    and with her I shall send this Journal. _If some effort is not made\n    before ten days' time the town will fall._\"\n\nThe following day, December 14th, was the last as far as his ability to\ncommunicate with the outer world was concerned. Though he held on for\nnearly six weeks longer, nothing is known accurately after the\n_Bordeen_ left Khartoum. Writing to the commander of the approaching\nExpeditionary Force, he says:--\n\n    \"I send down the steamer _Bordeen_ to-morrow, with vol. vi. of my\n    private journal, containing account of the events in Khartoum from\n    November 5 to December 14. The state of affairs is such that one\n    cannot foresee further than five to seven days, after which the\n    town may at any time fall. I have done all in my power to hold out,\n    but I own I consider the position is extremely critical, almost\n    desperate; and I say this without any feeling of bitterness with\n    respect to Her Majesty's Government, but merely as a matter of\n    fact. Should the town fall, it will be questionable whether it will\n    be worth the while of Her Majesty's Government to continue its\n    expedition; for it is certain that the fall of Khartoum will ensure\n    that of Kassala and Senaar.\"\n\nAnother letter of the same date was received by Sir Gerald Graham in\nCairo, saying: \"Farewell. You will never hear from me again. I fear\nthere will be treachery in the garrison, and all will be over by\nChristmas.\" The following message, addressed to a friend in Cairo, and\nalso dated December 14, was received only on February 24: \"All is up. I\nexpect a catastrophe in ten days' time. It would not have been so if\nour people had kept me better informed as to their intentions. My\nadieux to all.\" He also wrote to his sister:--\n\n    \"This may be the last letter you will receive from me, for we are\n    on our last legs, owing to the delay of the expedition. However,\n    God rules all, and, as He will rule to His glory and our welfare,\n    His will be done. I fear, owing to circumstances, that my affairs\n    pecuniarily are not over-bright....--Your affectionate brother,\n\n    \"C. G. GORDON.\n\n    \"_P.S._--I am quite happy, thank God, and like Lawrence, I have\n    '_tried_ to do my duty.'\"\n\nIt has already been mentioned that August 12th was the day when the\nEnglish Government yielded to the pressure of public opinion and gave\norders to commence the building of the boats which were to convey the\ntroops to relieve Khartoum. It is unnecessary to follow in detail the\nhistory of that force. Suffice it to say that the commander, Lord\nWolseley, received at Korti a message from General Gordon, dated 14th\nDecember 1884, \"Come quickly, come together; do not leave Berber behind\nyou.\" But the verbal message which the messenger delivered was far\nworse, \"Famine was in Khartoum; the Arabs knew it: there was not a\nmoment to be lost.\"\n\nAt once, Sir Herbert Stewart, with a small force, was sent to dash\nthrough the desert from Korti to Metemmah. He, Colonel Burnaby, and\nseveral other brave men, fell on that famous march, for the enemy at\ntwo points warmly disputed their passage. The loss in these conflicts,\nat Abu Klea on the 17th, and at Metemmah on the 19th, was appalling for\nthe Arabs, but such victories often repeated would soon have done for\nthe conquerors. The entire force reached Gubat on the Nile on January\n20th, and there they found the four steamers which Gordon had sent\ndown. Originally there were five steamers, but one had been sunk. The\nsix journals were handed over to Sir Charles Wilson, who, by right of\nseniority, had taken command on the death of Sir Herbert Stewart. A\nnote was also given to Sir Charles, which had been brought by a\nmessenger from Khartoum, to the following effect: \"Khartoum all right,\ncould hold out for years.--C. G. Gordon, 29th December 1884.\"\n\nIt was at first generally believed that this document was but one of\nmany sent out in order to deceive the enemy, but it is now thought that\nhis real object was not to deceive the enemy, who knew only too well\nthe actual state of affairs, so much as to get them to let his\nmessengers pass, if caught by them, and that then the messengers could\ndeliver a _viva voce_ message, and tell the appalling truth.\n\nSir Charles Wilson, with two officers and a small detachment of\nEnglishmen belonging to the Sussex regiment (late 35th), started on the\nmorning of the 24th for Khartoum in two of Gordon's steamers. The delay\nthat occurred between the arrival of the English force at Gubat, and\nthe start up the river for Khartoum, has been freely criticised by the\npress. The journey from Gubat to Khartoum being entirely by water, Lord\nCharles Beresford, a well-known naval officer, had been attached to\nStewart's force, with orders \"at once to take over and man any steamer\nor steamers that were either there or in the vicinity,\" and to \"use\nevery means in his power to get one or more of the steamers into an\nefficient state.\" Unfortunately, the British force that reached the\nNile was in a very different condition from that which left Korti in\nsuch high spirits. Rapid marching and hard fighting had demanded a\nheavy penalty, and the death-roll and sick-list were very high; among\nothers, Lord Charles Beresford himself was on the latter.\n\nThe whole force under Sir Charles Wilson did not equal a battalion of\ninfantry on its war strength, and it included a large percentage of\nsick and wounded to be looked after. In addition to this, reports came\ninto camp that large bodies of Arabs were advancing from the north as\nwell as from the south, with the object of annihilating the force. The\ncommander, therefore, had an anxious time of it, and was compelled to\nundertake a reconnaissance to ascertain the truth of the rumours, and\nto make all sorts of preparations for defending his little camp with\nits sick and wounded against any sudden onslaught. He was unconscious\nof the fact that time was so pressing, and that instead of his camp\nbeing attacked, it would be Khartoum, where Gordon had for so long held\nout against overwhelming odds. Thus the valuable hours of the 21st,\n22nd, and 23rd glided away, all too rapidly.\n\nEven when Wilson's force was ready to start, Lord Charles Beresford was\nnot able to accompany it, and Sir Charles had to go without him. The\ndistance to Khartoum was about 100 miles, but it was not until January\n28th that the steamers got clear of the Sixth Cataract, which was about\nhalf-way between Gubat and Khartoum. For about a dozen miles large\nboulders and rocks caused delay and danger. No sooner had the steamers\ngot clear of these obstacles than all eyes were strained to catch sight\nof the Egyptian flag floating over Khartoum. The steamers made rapid\nprogress in the open water, and as the distance was reduced, the square\nroof of the palace where Gordon had resided came into view. But there\nwas no Egyptian flag flying from it, and the reception accorded to the\nrelieving force, although a warm one, was not such as Gordon would have\ngiven. His eyes had often been strained looking to the quarter whence\nhe thought his grateful countrymen would surely send aid, but he had\nlooked in vain. Now, when the tardy help was at hand, it received no\nwelcome from him, for just two days before, on January 26th, he had\nyielded up his heroic spirit. From every side the Mahdists poured shot\nand shell upon Sir Charles Wilson and his little band; and it was\nmatter for grateful surprise that they escaped the fate of him whom,\ntoo late, they had come to rescue. They approached within eight hundred\nyards of the city, and then, convinced that it had fallen, retreated to\na safer position, from which they could institute inquiries as to the\nfate of the gallant hero, hoping, yet hardly daring to hope, that his\nlife might have been spared.\n\nIt is not necessary to follow further in detail the history of Sir\nCharles Wilson's party, the narrow escape they had from being\ntreacherously run on to a rock, and the way in which they were\ngallantly rescued by Lord Charles Beresford, who by February 1st was\nsufficiently recovered to enable him to take command of another of\nGordon's steamers, and relieve the would-be relievers. There followed\nat least six days of suspense, as the accounts brought in by natives\nwere very conflicting, but by the 11th of February it was known in\nEngland that a consensus of evidence pointed to the fact that the noble\nhero of Khartoum had been killed at his post.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nProbably it will never be accurately known either how Khartoum fell\ninto the hands of the Mahdi, or how the gallant defender actually met\nhis fate. There have been many wild rumours regarding both events, but\nit is probable that the most authentic account is that obtained by\nColonel Kitchener, who of all men was most likely to be well informed,\nfor not only was his experience of the Arabs great, but he had personal\nopportunities of examining witnesses. He thinks that the ordinary food\nsupply at Khartoum was quite exhausted by the 1st January 1885, and\nthat on the 6th the General issued a proclamation, offering to any of\nthe inhabitants who liked free permission to leave the town and go to\nthe Mahdi. Great numbers availed themselves of this permission, and\nGordon wrote letters to the Mahdi, requesting him to protect and feed\nthese poor Moslem people, as he had for the last nine months. In this\nway the population of the city was reduced to about 14,000 out of the\n34,000 inhabitants who were there in September. About the 18th of\nJanuary, a sortie was made which resulted in desperate fighting, and a\nlarge number of the Mahdi's troops and about 200 of Gordon's men were\nkilled. Colonel Kitchener says:--\n\n    \"The state of the garrison was then desperate for want of food; all\n    the donkeys, dogs, cats, rats, &c., had been eaten; a small ration\n    of grain was issued daily to the troops, and a sort of bread was\n    made from pounded palm-tree fibre.\n\n    \"On the 23rd General Gordon had a stormy interview with Farag Pasha\n    [the commander of his black troops]. An eye-witness states that it\n    was owing to Gordon having passed a fort on the White Nile which\n    was under Farag Pasha's charge, and found to be inadequately\n    protected. Gordon is said to have struck Farag Pasha on this\n    occasion. It seems probable to me that at this interview Farag\n    Pasha proposed to Gordon to surrender the town, and stated the\n    terms the Mahdi had offered, declaring in his opinion that they\n    should be accepted. Farag Pasha left the palace in a great rage,\n    refusing the repeated attempts of other officers to effect a\n    reconciliation between him and Gordon. On the following day (24th)\n    General Gordon held a council of the notables at the palace. The\n    question of the surrender of the town was then discussed, and\n    General Gordon declared, whatever the council decided, he would\n    never surrender the town. I think it very probable that on this\n    occasion General Gordon brought Farag Pasha's action and proposals\n    before the council, and it appears that some in the council were of\n    Farag Pasha's opinion, that the town could resist no longer, and\n    should be surrendered on the terms offered by the Mahdi. General\n    Gordon would not, however, listen to this proposal.\n\n    \"On the 25th Gordon was slightly ill, and as it was Sunday, he did\n    not appear in public. He had, however, several interviews with\n    leading men of the town, and evidently knew that the end was\n    near.... On the night of the 25th many of the famished troops left\n    their posts on the fortifications in search of food in the town.\n    Some of the troops were also too weak, from want of nourishment, to\n    go to their posts.\"\n\nMeanwhile news had reached the Mahdists of their terrible defeat at Abu\nKlea, and also rumours that the English had taken Metemmah. Reports\nwhich have quite recently arrived from Egypt say that the Mahdi,\nalarmed at the approach of English troops, had already packed up his\ngoods and chattels and was about to beat a retreat. There was a meeting\nof all the Emirs in the camp of the Mahdi, and, with one exception, all\nwere in favour of abandoning the siege. A single Emir, however, said,\n\"Let us make one more attempt. Let us fire 101 guns and proclaim a\ngreat victory over the advancing English army, and then make one more\nattempt on Khartoum. If we fail we shall be no worse off than we are\nnow, for we can only retreat, but if we succeed we shall be able to\ndefy the approaching British.\" Unfortunately for us the advice of the\nEmir was taken, and the British expedition, which was so near\nsucceeding, failed by forty-eight hours to gain its object. The Mahdist\nattack took place at 3.30 A.M. on Monday, January 26th, and was only\ntoo successful. With regard to the report that the fall of Khartoum was\ndue to foul play on the part of Farag Pasha, Colonel Kitchener says:\n\"The accusations of treachery have all been vague, and are, to my mind,\nthe outcome of mere supposition. In my opinion Khartoum fell from\nsudden assault, when the garrison was too exhausted by privation to\nmake proper resistance!\" Whether Farag Pasha was guilty or not is not\ndefinitely known, but it is certain that he was taken prisoner, and\nthree days after the fall of the town was brought up to show where the\nwealth was hidden. As there was none he could not reveal it, so he was\nkilled in the market-place at Omdurman. The Mahdi's troops massacred\n4000 persons, and after they had been engaged for six hours in thus\nwreaking their vengeance, the Mahdi sent over to stop them, and a\nsystematic method was adopted of searching for loot. As the Mahdi had\nbribed his men by promises of untold wealth, and they were\ndisappointed, a large number deserted his cause, and afterwards\nactually fought against him.\n\nThe most contradictory reports have been circulated as to the manner in\nwhich General Gordon met his fate, and although it would be impossible\nto allude to all, it may not be out of place to refer to one which has\nbeen very widely accepted. It is to the effect that the General,\nhearing that the city had been betrayed, put on his uniform and rushed\nout, sword in hand, to die as a soldier. Narratives which have a\ndramatic element are always easily accepted. Dramatic effect was,\nhowever, the last thing our gallant hero thought of at any time, and\nstill less on such an occasion as this. As a matter of fact he had not\na stitch of uniform in Khartoum, and, considering his Chinese\nexperience, it is very unlikely that he would have drawn his sword,\neven if he had possessed one, which he certainly did not. One person\nwho recognised Gordon after his death says that he was dressed in light\nclothes. Colonel Kitchener quotes the only person who claimed to be an\neye-witness of his death, who says:--\n\n    \"On hearing the noise, I got my master's donkey, and went with him\n    to the palace. Muhamed Bey Mustapha, with my master, Ibrahim Bey\n    Rushdi, and about twenty cavasses, then went with Gordon towards\n    the house of the Austrian Consul Hansall, near the church, when we\n    met some rebels in an open place near the outer gate of the palace.\n    Gordon Pasha was walking in front leading the party. The rebels\n    fired a volley, and Gordon was killed at once; nine of the\n    cavasses, Ibrahim Bey Rushdi, and Muhamed Bey Mustapha were killed;\n    the rest ran away.\"\n\nWhether Gordon's death was intended by the Mahdi or was entirely an\naccident is not known. Colonel Kitchener says that the Mahdi professed\nto be very angry when he heard that Gordon was killed, but the Colonel\nthinks that had he expressed himself strongly on the subject\nbeforehand, this calamity would never have taken place. This, however,\nis very doubtful; a rushing host of victorious soldiers, firing wildly\nin every direction, are never very discriminating; of course many of\nthem did not know Gordon personally, and the brave General was not the\nman to make himself conspicuous by any distinguishing garb. Though\nColonel Kitchener is perhaps rather hard on the Mahdi in this respect,\nhe is probably correct in thinking that \"the want of discipline in the\nMahdi's camp made it dangerous for him to keep as a prisoner a man whom\nall the black troops liked better than himself, and in favour of whom,\non a revulsion of feeling, a successful revolt might take place in his\nown camp. Moreover, if Gordon was dead, he calculated (and rightly) the\nEnglish would retire and leave him in peace.\" How Gordon was actually\nkilled, and whether it was the intention of the Mahdi that he should be\n\"accidentally\" disposed of, is open to dispute. There can, however, be\nno question that he was slain, for his dead body was recognised. Well\nmight Colonel Kitchener say, \"Never was a garrison so nearly rescued,\nnever was a commander so sincerely lamented.\" As far back as October\n13th General Gordon had written:--\n\n    \"It is, of course, on the cards that Khartoum is taken under the\n    nose of the Expeditionary Force, which will be _just too late_.\n\n    \"The Expeditionary Force will perhaps think it necessary to retake\n    it; but that will be of no use, and will cause loss of life\n    uselessly on both sides. It had far better return, with its tail\n    between its legs.... England was made by adventurers, not by its\n    Government, and I believe it will only hold its place by\n    adventurers.\"\n\nThe Government decided to take Gordon's advice, and, to save further\nbloodshed, withdrew the Relief Expedition. Wady Halfa, Korosko, and\nAssouan, were held with some force, in case the Mahdi's adherents\nshould seek to follow up their victory. The death of the Mahdi,\nhowever, and the defeat of his followers at the end of 1885, have\ntogether helped to crush the Mahdist movement, and Egypt has been left\nunmolested.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII\n\nCONCLUSION\n\n\nThe news of Gordon's death startled not England only, but the whole of\nthe civilised world. Every eye had been watching the relief column\nslowly wending its way up the Nile, and over the desert route. One war\ncorrespondent had actually used the words in his telegram, \"To-morrow\nthe lonely and weary hero will joyfully grasp the hand of an\nEnglishman.\" People would not at first believe the sad reality, and for\na time every one hoped against hope. The news reached the War Office on\nFebruary 4th, and was communicated to the public during the following\nday. No better proof exists of the tenacity with which many clung to\nthe hope that Gordon might possibly have survived, than the fact that\nthe Queen, whose womanly heart always prompted her to be one of the\nfirst to send expressions of sympathy to the relatives of those who\nfall at the post of duty, did not date her letter to Miss Gordon till\nFebruary 17th, and even then used the sentence, \"I fear there cannot be\nmuch doubt of it,\" in alluding to the hero's death. The Queen's letter,\nwhich did but give expression to the feelings of the country on the\nsubject, was as follows:--\n\n    \"OSBORNE, _17th February 1885._\n\n    \"DEAR MISS GORDON,--_How_ shall I write to you, or how shall I\n    attempt to express _what I feel_! To _think_ of your dear, noble,\n    heroic Brother, who served his Country and his Queen so truly, so\n    heroically, with a self-sacrifice so edifying to the World, not\n    having been rescued. That the promises of support were not\n    fulfilled--which I so frequently and constantly pressed on those\n    who asked him to go--is to me _grief inexpressible_! indeed, it has\n    made me ill! My heart bleeds for you, his Sister, who have gone\n    through so many anxieties on his account, and who loved the dear\n    Brother as he deserved to be. You are all so good and trustful, and\n    have such strong faith, that you will be sustained even now, when\n    _real_ absolute evidence of your dear Brother's death does not\n    exist--but I fear there cannot be much doubt of it. Some day I hope\n    to see you again, to tell you all I cannot express. My daughter\n    Beatrice, who has felt quite as I do, wishes me to express her\n    deepest sympathy with you. I hear so many expressions of sorrow and\n    sympathy from _abroad_: from my eldest daughter, the Crown\n    Princess, and from my Cousin, the King of the Belgians,--the very\n    warmest. Would you express to your other Sisters and your elder\n    Brother my true sympathy, and what I do so keenly feel, the _stain_\n    left upon England for your dear Brother's cruel, though heroic\n    fate?--Ever, dear Miss Gordon, yours sincerely and sympathisingly,\n\n    \"V. R. I.\"\n\nParliament at once voted L20,000, the sum usually given to a successful\ngeneral on the completion of a campaign, to be set apart for the\nsisters, nephew, and nieces of General Gordon, and an _In Memoriam_\nservice was conducted in every cathedral, and in nearly all the large\nchurches of England. A statue was in course of time erected in\nTrafalgar Square,[16] and another has recently been unveiled at\nChatham. A monument was erected in St. Paul's Cathedral, and it was\ndecided to place another in Westminster Abbey, the national mausoleum\nof England. But better still, we know that his memory is enshrined in\nthe hearts of many left behind, and that the record of his noble\nsaintly life is still teaching many of our countrymen valuable lessons.\n\n      [16] It is from this monument that the picture on the cover is\n      taken. It represents Gordon in the undress uniform of the Royal\n      Engineers, with a Bible under one arm, and the \"magic wand of\n      victory\" under the other.\n\nFew men have done more than General Gordon to elevate the tone of the\nsoldier. The old-fashioned notion still survives that soldiers love war\nfor its own sake, and for the honours it brings to those who take part\nin it; but Gordon showed us a higher ideal, that the true soldier\nshould study his profession with the idea of mastering it, so as the\nbetter to enable him to maintain peace. If good men were all to abstain\nfrom studying the science of war, evildoers would very soon have a\nmonopoly of it, and would become aggressors. There are plenty of\nbullies, who, like Napoleon, would soon upset the peace of Europe were\nit not that they fear to do so. Such men can only be kept in order by\nbrute force, and brute force is absolutely of no avail, unless it is\norganised and directed by a brain that has studied the art and science\nof directing and controlling physical force. It need hardly be said\nthat a knowledge of this kind is not acquired in a day, and although\nthere have been some splendid soldiers of the type of Cromwell, Warren\nHastings, and Washington, who have never had a military training, it is\nunquestionable that a knowledge of the science of war gives a general a\nvery great advantage over one who has not had such training. Exceptions\nthere are to every rule, and the names mentioned must be placed amongst\nthem. It is doubtful if some of the generals named would have ever\nattained celebrity had their opponents been well trained. Gordon loved\nhis profession, but he took a high view of it. Soldiering with him was\nnot a mere profession for slaughtering his fellow-creatures, but for\nthe prevention of that bullying and bloodshed which would be ever going\non in this world, were it not for those who train themselves in order\nto be able to stop it. The Taiping rebellion, which caused the death of\nmillions of innocent creatures, is but a specimen of what might go on\nthroughout the world did not skilful, well-trained soldiers throw in\ntheir lot with the side of law and order. Had the Chinese Government\nonly possessed an able general, and a proper army, that rebellion would\nnever have made such headway as it did. And had they not received the\nservices of such an able soldier as Gordon proved to be, the rebellion\nmight have been indefinitely prolonged, and might have broken up the\nEmpire of China.\n\nIn less civilised days the percentage of persons who loved fighting for\nits own sake was undoubtedly larger than it is now. The more civilised\nwe become, the more we learn to value peace and to dislike war. But\neven in a civilised nation like the English, there is a certain\npercentage who really love fighting for its own sake; and besides\nthese, there are many who do not actually love it, but think they ought\nto do so, as they are in the army, and so they cultivate a style of\ntalking as if they really liked it, and thus they mislead others. In\nthe case of Gordon there was an entire absence of either the one or the\nother spirit. He did not love fighting for its own sake, and he would\nprobably have looked upon a person who did as a survival of a former\nage. As for the latter class he had an utter abhorrence of all shams,\nand he took every opportunity of speaking out of the honesty of his\nheart. \"People have little idea how far from 'glorious' war is. It is\norganised murder, pillage, and cruelty, and it is seldom that the\nweight falls on the fighting men--it is on the women, children, and old\npeople. Consider it how we may, war is a brutal, cruel affair.\"\nSpeaking of some of his men killed and wounded in a skirmish, he says,\n\"I wish people could see what the suffering of human creatures is--I\nmean those who wish for war. I am a fool, I daresay, but I cannot see\nthe sufferings of any of these people without tears in my eyes.\"\n\nIt is worthy of note that some of the ablest generals who have lived\nand died in the latter half of this century have held similar views.\nThe great Duke of Wellington remarked, as he crossed the field of\nWaterloo, the evening after the battle, that \"nothing exceeds the\nhorror of victory except a defeat;\" and such men as Sir Henry Havelock,\nSir Hope Grant, Sir Henry Lawrence, and the heroic General Lee of\nAmerica, used expressions of similar purport. Gordon was a living\nillustration of the saying that \"the gentlest men are ever the bravest\nwhen enlightened consciousness tells them that they have a just cause\nto support.\"\n\nGordon's courage was unquestioned, but, though he possessed more\nnatural courage than most men, he never made a wanton display of it\nmerely with a view of impressing others. In China he exposed himself\nalmost recklessly, in order to encourage his officers and men; but in\nthe Soudan, where he felt so much depended on his life, he carefully\nrefrained from exposing himself, though it must at times have been a\ngreat trial to him to see his men so badly handled by their leaders.\n\nIt is not unnatural that, in the case of the death of a man like\nGeneral Gordon, people should like to know his views on that event\nwhich must in due course happen to all of us, unless our Lord Himself\nshall come to terminate this dispensation. Apparently he sometimes\nwished for this, though he did not appear to think the Second Advent\nnear at hand. In one of his letters he says:--\n\n    \"I wish, I wish the King would come again and put things right on\n    earth; but His coming is far off, for the whole world must long for\n    Him ere He comes, and I really believe that there are but very,\n    very few who would wish Him to appear, for to do so is to desire\n    death, and how few do this! Not that we really ever die: we only\n    change our sheaths.\"\n\nBut though he longed for the return of the Heavenly Bridegroom during\nhis life, he also looked upon death as a welcome release from the\ntrials and troubles of life. He frequently alluded to this subject, and\ndozens of extracts might be made from his letters, all more or less\nsimilar to the two following, which were written at different dates:--\n\n    \"I would that all could look on death as a cheerful friend, who\n    takes us from a world of trial to our true home. All our sorrows\n    come from a forgetfulness of this great truth. I desire to look on\n    the departure of my friends as a promotion to another and a higher\n    sphere, as I do believe that to be the case with _all_.\n\n    \"Any one, to whom God gives to be much with Him, cannot even suffer\n    a pang at death. For what is death to a believer? It is a closer\n    approach to Him, whom, even through the veil, he is ever with.\"\n\nThere is one point on which we ought specially to dwell in considering\nthe lessons to be learnt from the life of General Gordon, and that is\nthe _moral_ courage he always exhibited. His physical courage has\nalready been touched on, but great as it was, his moral courage was far\ngreater. There are plenty of men possessing physical courage who fail\nto exhibit moral courage when put to the test. Man being a gregarious\nanimal, and accustomed to go in flocks, is led by his fellows to evil\nas well as to good. No man can be a true leader of men who is not\nprepared to stand alone, if need be, against overwhelming majorities.\nGordon had the courage of his convictions, and no amount of pressure,\nno weight of public opinion, could deter him when once the path of duty\nwas clear. The time-server does not ask, What is right? What is my\nduty? but, What will pay? What will public opinion think? For such an\none Gordon had a supreme contempt. It has been well said by Dr. Ryle,\nthe Bishop of Liverpool, \"It is not overwhelming majorities that shake\nand influence the world. Small minorities have ever had more influence\nthan large majorities. All great men have had their seasons of\nloneliness. See Napoleon, Mahomet, Luther, John Wesley, and Christ\nHimself.\" To this list we may add the name of General Gordon; few men\nso often found themselves so much in opposition in fashionable circles\nand in the official world.\n\n                            *      *      *\n\nAmong the false reports that have been circulated about General Gordon\nis one that he was very unsociable and morose, shunning society in\ngeneral, and ladies' society in particular. It is true that he shunned\na certain class of society; there was also a certain set of women that\nhe fought shy of; but it is quite untrue to say that he was unsociable.\nHe greatly enjoyed the society of ordinary cultivated women, who were\nin sympathy with his efforts to do good, and with them he was neither\nshy nor reserved. He could talk pleasantly for hours together, and as\nhis own mind was a very cultivated one, he was a great element of\nattraction to society of a certain kind. What he did dislike intensely\nwas the society of that class of ladies who think of little beyond the\nfashions of the day, the latest style of dress, and the newest forms of\namusement. Such persons he used to find had no minds to think, and no\nhearts to feel for suffering humanity. Many of them attempted to\nlionise him, while others paid him the most fulsome compliments, both\nbeing things that he particularly disliked. The ordinary conventional\ndinner-party, where a man is condemned to take in a lady with whom he\nhas nothing in common, and next to whom he must sit for a couple of\nhours or so eating and drinking things which do not agree with him, was\nto Gordon a special object of antipathy. Writing from Cairo on March\n15, 1878, he says:--\n\n    \"I am much bothered, but I get to bed at 8 P.M., which is a\n    comfort, for I do not dine out, and consequently do not drink wine.\n    Every one laughs at me; but I do not care.\"\n\nAgain, when in South Africa, he writes:--\n\n    \"How I hate society; how society hates me! I never tell you the\n    sort of life I lead, it is not worth it; for it is simply the life\n    I led at home, being asked out, and refusing when it is\n    possible;--when I go, getting humiliated, or being foolish. This\n    latter is better than not being exposed--keeping one's self in\n    cotton wool, for that brings out no knowledge of self, such as is\n    brought out by being with others. At the same time, I think it is\n    not right to be much in society, indeed I fight against it truly,\n    and have only dined out about seven times since I have been here.\"\n\nOn October 24th, 1884, when he had made up his mind not to return to\nEngland, even if he should get away from Khartoum, he says:--\n\n    \"I dwell on the joy of never seeing Great Britain again, with its\n    horrid, wearisome dinner-parties and miseries. How we can put up\n    with those things passes my imagination! It is a perfect bondage.\n    At those dinner-parties we are all in masks, saying what we do not\n    believe, eating and drinking things we do not want, and then\n    abusing one another. I would sooner live like a Dervish with the\n    Mahdi, than go out to dinner every night in London. I hope, if any\n    English general comes to Khartoum, he will not ask me to dinner.\n    Why men cannot be friends without bringing the wretched stomachs\n    in, is astounding.\"\n\nBut though Gordon did not like the artificial conventional society one\nmeets at ordinary dinner-parties, it must not be supposed that he was\nin any way gloomy. His friend, Prebendary Barnes, says about him: \"The\nseriousness of Gordon's temper did not prevent him from being a bright\nand agreeable companion, especially when those with whom he talked\ncould join him in smoking a cigarette. He had a keen sense of humour,\nand on every matter about which he cared to form an opinion he spoke\nclearly and decisively.\" And his old brother officer, Sir Gerald\nGraham, thus speaks of him:--\n\n    \"Pictures have been drawn of Gordon as a gloomy ascetic, wrapped up\n    in mystic thoughts, retiring from all communion with the world, and\n    inspiring fear rather than affection. I can only describe him as he\n    appeared to me. Far from being a gloomy ascetic, he always seemed\n    to me to retain a boyish frankness, and to long to share his ideas\n    with others. Our intimacy began when we were thrown together in\n    mining the docks of Sebastopol during the winter of 1855-56--a\n    period Gordon always delighted in referring to whenever we met, by\n    calling up old scenes, and even our old jokes of that time. Like\n    all men of action, more especially soldiers, Gordon disliked\n    argument with subordinates when once he had resolved on his course\n    of action; otherwise he invited discussion, and I always found him\n    most tolerant in listening to arguments against his own views, even\n    on subjects in which he, of course, possessed a knowledge far\n    exceeding any I could pretend to. To show the impression he made\n    upon me at the time of my last seeing him, in 1884, I will quote\n    from a letter which I wrote shortly after: 'Charlie Gordon's\n    character is a very fascinating one; he has so much of the natural\n    man about him. To his friends--and he treats all as friends whom he\n    knows and trusts--his charm of manner is irresistible. It is\n    utterly unlike the charm of a polished man of the world; it is the\n    charm of a perfectly open mind, giving and demanding confidence,\n    sometimes playfully, sometimes earnestly, and sometimes with\n    touching humility.\"\n\nThere were various reasons which made him avoid worldly society; one\nwas the incessant grumbling in which many indulge, who have little\ncause to complain. Writing from the Soudan, he says:--\n\n    \"I have not patience with the groans of half the world, and declare\n    there is more happiness among these miserable blacks, who have not\n    a meal from day to day, than among our own middle classes. The\n    blacks are glad of a little handful of maize, and live in the\n    greatest discomfort. They have not a strip to cover them; but you\n    do not see them grunting and groaning all day long, as you see\n    scores and scores in England, with their wretched dinner-parties,\n    and attempts at gaiety, where all is hollow and miserable.\"\n\nThen there was a higher reason. He found that such society interfered\nwith his spiritual life. He says, in three distinct letters:--\n\n    \"Getting quiet does one good; it is impossible to hear God's voice\n    in a whirl of visits. You must be more or less in the desert, to\n    use the scales of the Sanctuary, to see and weigh the true value of\n    things and sayings.\"\n\n    \"We have no conception or idea of what God will show us, if we\n    persevere in seeking Him; and it is He who puts this wish into our\n    hearts. All I can say to you is: Persevere; avoid the world and its\n    poor wretched little talk about others; never mind being thought\n    stupid; look on everything with regard to the great day, and trust\n    Him implicitly.\"\n\n    \"Christ must _actually die_, not come _very near_ death; and so\n    must we, if we would rise. I once thought it possible to bargain\n    with Christ; to say, I will give up half of my desire of the world,\n    and gain, in the gap, a corresponding measure of Christ. It was no\n    good: I lost the half, but did not get the measure filled. Then I\n    tried to give up a little more, but with the same result; now I\n    think God has shown me that it is not the least use trying these\n    subtle bargains; that the giving up little by little is more\n    wearisome and trying than _one_ surrender, and _that_ I trust He\n    will give me power to make.\"\n\nAnother reason, doubtless, why he shunned fashionable society was his\nextreme sensitiveness to praise. His honest, straightforward nature\ncould not tolerate the praise that so often is showered upon great men.\nHe used to say:--\n\n    \"If a man speaks well of me, divide it by millions and then it will\n    be millions of times too favourable. If a man speaks evil of me,\n    multiply it by millions and it will be millions of times too\n    favourable. Man is disguised, as far as his neighbour is concerned;\n    this disguise is his outward goodness. Some have it in a slight\n    measure torn off in this life, and are judged accordingly by those\n    whose disguise of goodness is more intact; the revelation of the\n    evil by this partial tearing off is but the manifestation of what\n    exists. Whether the disguise is torn or intact, the interior and\n    true state (known to God quite clearly) is the same corrupt thing;\n    the eye of the Spirit discerns through the disguise.\n\n    \"Who could bear to have this disguise quite rent off, and the evil\n    exposed to the eyes of the world? How would the world receive me,\n    if they knew what I really was, and what God knows that I am at\n    this minute? Yet, how hardly I judge another whose disguise,\n    slightly rent, shows a little of the corruption I know exists in\n    me. Nothing evil was ever said of any man which was not true, his\n    worst enemies could not say a thousandth part of the evil that is\n    in him.\n\n    \"Praise now humbles me, it does not elate me; did the world praise\n    Jesus? and what right have we to take this praise of men, when it\n    is due to Him?\n\n    \"When one knows the little one does of oneself, and any one praises\n    you, I, at any rate, have a rising, which is a suppressed 'You\n    lie.' There are several nice bits in our Lord's life, when He\n    replied with some unpalatable truth to those men who would follow\n    Him, and would make much of Him, but afterwards they entirely\n    changed their demeanour.\"\n\nAt one time he used, for the same reason, to avoid reading all\nnewspapers, as they contained so much praise of him. Writing in 1882,\nwhen he was Governor-General of the Soudan, he says:--\n\n    \"I have come to a conclusion; may God give me strength to keep it!\n    _Stop all the newspapers._ It is no use mincing the matter; as the\n    disease is dire, so also must be the remedy.... Newspapers feed a\n    passion _I_ have for giving my opinion; therefore, as we have no\n    right to judge and have nothing to do with this world (of which we\n    are not), this feeding must be cut short.\n\n    \"The giving up the papers may cause the starvation of my passion\n    for politics, and that scab may drop off. God has shown me what\n    the scabs are:--Evil-speaking, lying, slandering, back-biting,\n    scoffing, self-conceit, boasting, silly talking, and some few more.\n\n    \"I wish friends would not send me papers, &c. I pass them on to\n    ----, who is my waste-paper basket!\"\n\nNot only did he combat that part of his nature which loved the praise\nof men, he also sternly resisted the temptation of ambition. For\ninstance, he writes:--\n\n    \"I wonder if I look ambitious in your eyes. Do you think I sought\n    this place? You should know better than most people, for you have\n    all my thoughts in my letters. Judging myself, I fear it was so\n    when I took the work in hand; not that I cared for the money or the\n    honours to come from it. I think, however, my main idea was the\n    Quixotic one--to help the Khedive, mixed with the feeling that I\n    could, with God's direction, accomplish this work.\n\n    \"... There is death in the seeking of high posts on this earth\n    for the purpose of what the world calls doing great things;\n    the mightiest of men are flies on a wheel; a kind word to a\n    crossing-sweeper delights Christ _in him_, as much as it would\n    delight Christ _in_ a queen.\"\n\nHe was conscious, too, of a natural tendency to judge his neighbours.\nLike many reformers, he had a critical nature, and often found himself\nled into temptation through it. He never screened this failing, and did\nhis utmost to fight against it. There are several extracts from his\nletters on this besetting sin. Witness these two:--\n\n    \"What troubles me immensely is the way in which circumstances force\n    me into society, for in it is the great evil of judging others,\n    picking them to pieces behind their backs, so entirely mean and\n    contrary to our Lord's will. All this tends to make a cloud between\n    Him and us; and yet I declare I cannot see how I can avoid it.\"\n\n    \"This is one great reason why I never desire to enter social life,\n    for there is very great difficulty in knowing people and not\n    discussing others.\"\n\nConsidering how thorough Gordon himself was, and how intensely he hated\nshams of every kind, it is not surprising to find that, with his\nnaturally critical temperament, he used most relentlessly to expose the\nunreality of many who, acknowledging the truth of Christianity,\npractically denied its power.\n\n    \"As a rule, Christians are really more inconsistent than\n    'worldlings.' They talk truths, and do not act on them. They allow\n    that 'God is the God of the widows and orphans,' yet they look in\n    trouble to the gods of silver and gold: either He can help\n    altogether, or not at all. He will not be served in conjunction\n    with idols of any sort....\n\n    \"How unlike in acts are most of so-called Christians to their\n    Founder! You see in them no resemblance to Him. Hard, proud,\n    'holier than thou,' is their uniform. _They have the truth_,\n    no one else, it is _their_ monopoly.\"\n\nBut though he avoided Christians of this type, he had a great yearning\nfor the society of those who were real, and had more sympathy with the\nweaknesses of those who were true, in spite of their failings, than\nmost men. He was fully conscious of the natural depravity of his own\nheart, and so was ever tender to those who fell. Nobody was more\nwilling than he to act to a fellow Christian on the principle laid down\nin the lines--\n\n    \"Help a poor and weary brother\n    Pulling hard against the stream.\"\n\nHe loved Christian society of the right sort, and, under its influence,\nhis whole nature would expand, and he would converse for hours\ntogether. Writing from Galatz, where he went after the pleasant time\nspent at Gravesend, he says, \"I feel much also the want of some\nreligious talk,\" thereby adding another illustration to the truth of\nthat text, \"They that love the Lord spake often one to another.\"\n\nGeneral Gordon's temperament was not that of the monk who shuns his\nfellow-creatures, and it must therefore have been all the greater trial\nfor him to cut himself off from his friends for so many years at a time\nas he used to do. Indeed he used to speak of it as \"a living death.\"\nBut the great lesson of his life was that of self-sacrifice for the\ngood of others. Speaking to the editor of a journal, to which reference\nhas already been made, he once said, \"When I was in the Soudan, I used\nto pray every day, 'O Lord, let me be crushed. Lay the punishment of\ntheir sins upon me.'\" Then, as if he was afraid of being misunderstood,\nhe said, \"It was a strange prayer, was it not? As if I had not enough\nof my own sins to bear!\" Few men have learned better than he the great\nlesson taught from the Cross of Calvary, and few have practised that\nlesson more completely.\n\nAs we so often see greatness associated with success in life, it is\nwell that now and then we witness greatness, which has not been\nassociated with what the world calls success, for the two are far from\nbeing inseparably connected. General Gordon frequently emphasised the\ndistinctions between honours and honour. The former he cared very\nlittle about, but the latter he ever valued highly, and he used to say\nthat often men attain the former at the expense of the latter. No\ntitles precede his name, nor do any decorations of importance follow\nit, but his simple and yet heroic self-sacrificing life have fascinated\nhis countrymen, and helped to make the world better by setting before\nit a higher ideal. On the monument in St. Paul's Cathedral his life is\nbriefly summed up in the few following words: \"To Major-General Charles\nGeorge Gordon, C.B., who at all times and everywhere gave his strength\nto the weak, his substance to the poor, his sympathy to the suffering,\nhis heart to God. He saved an empire by his warlike genius, he ruled\nvast provinces with justice, wisdom, and power, and lastly, obedient to\nhis Sovereign's command, he died in the heroic attempt to save men,\nwomen, and children, from imminent and deadly peril.\" The nation felt\nthat their Poet Laureate, Lord Tennyson, did but speak the simple truth\nwhen he penned the following lines:--\n\n    \"Warrior of God, man's friend, not laid below,\n    But somewhere dead far in the waste Soudan,\n    Thou livest in all hearts, for all men know\n    This earth has borne no simpler, nobler man.\"\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\nPrinted by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.\nEdinburgh & London","title":"General Gordon : $b A Christian hero","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":82356}