General Gordon
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Title: General Gordon
A Christian hero
Author: Seton Churchill
Release date: May 12, 2009 [eBook #28773]
Language: English
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GENERAL GORDON
[Illustration: C. G. Gordon
P.S. I am quite happy, thank God, & like Lawrence, I have "tried
to do my duty."
_Copied from the Original Engraving by permission of_
F. C. MCQUEEN & SONS, _sole Proprietors of the Copyright._]
GENERAL GORDON
A Christian Hero
by
LIEUT.-COLONEL SETON CHURCHILL
Author of "Stepping-Stones to Higher Things," Etc.
13th Edition
(_Completing 41,000 Copies_)
London
James Nisbet & Co., Limited
21 Berners Street
1907
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
At the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh
_DEDICATED_
TO THE
YOUNG MEN OF ENGLAND
WITH THE EARNEST DESIRE THAT SOME OF THE NOBLE
GODLIKE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS
CHRISTIAN SOLDIER AND HERO
MAY BE REPRODUCED IN FUTURE GENERATIONS
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. INTRODUCTION 1
II. EARLY LIFE AND CRIMEAN WAR 12
III. CHINESE WAR AND TAIPING REBELLION 25
IV. GORDON'S FIRST COMMAND 36
V. PROGRESS OF THE REBELLION 50
VI. END OF THE REBELLION 65
VII. AT GRAVESEND 80
VIII. GORDON'S SIMPLE FAITH 92
IX. HIS CATHOLICITY 114
X. GOVERNOR OF THE EQUATORIAL PROVINCE 135
XI. GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE SOUDAN 157
XII. ABYSSINIA, INDIA, AND CHINA 178
XIII. MAURITIUS, CAPE, AND PALESTINE 190
XIV. KHARTOUM 209
XV. THE SIEGE 230
XVI. THE FALL OF KHARTOUM 246
XVII. CONCLUSION 263
LIFE OF GORDON
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Lord Wolseley, on hearing an officer say that General Gordon was mad,
remarked, in language similar to that used by George II. to the Duke of
Newcastle about General Wolfe, that it was a great pity Gordon had not
bitten more Generals, so that they might have been infected with some
of his madness. Nor is there any reason why the motive power which
could make a man do such noble deeds and lead such a splendid life
should be confined to Generals. There are thousands of young men in
this country who may be helped to live better lives by the study of
such a Christian hero as Charles George Gordon undoubtedly was, and it
is with that end in view that I have endeavoured to write a popular
sketch of his life and character.
My object in adding to the number of biographies[1] already written of
General Gordon is to meet the demand for a popular book for young men
and others, which will focus the events of his life into one handy
volume, and which shall at the same time give a clear insight into the
religious life of this Christian hero. This I have attempted to combine
with a sketch of his military, political, and social life, setting
forth not only the deeds of the man, but the motive which prompted
them. The best writers on Gordon have taken up parts of his life only,
so that no one can get a view of it as a whole without wading through a
large number of volumes, some of them very ponderous. The best record
of his career in China is a work by Mr. Andrew Wilson called "The
Ever-Victorious Army." A smaller book by Mr. W. E. Lilley gives an
interesting account of Gordon's life at Gravesend. The first part of
his life in Africa is given in a larger volume by Dr. G. Birkbeck Hill,
called "Colonel Gordon in Central Africa." The late Prebendary Barnes
edited a small book, "Reflections in Palestine," and Mr. A. Egmont Hake
has published a complete account of the hero's career at Khartoum in
"The Journals of General Gordon," which were given to him in manuscript
to be edited. In addition to this valuable work, the same writer, who
is a distant cousin of Gordon's, has written two large volumes,
embracing the whole of his life, under the title "The Story of Chinese
Gordon."
[1] In certain points where I have differed from other writers, I
have relied on the opinion of a near relative of the late General
Gordon, as to the accuracy of the statements put forward.
The late Sir Henry Gordon has also written a biography; but though an
able man and very fond of his brother, it is not generally considered
that he did full justice to his memory. The brothers were widely
separated in age, there being fourteen years between them; and owing to
the younger one having spent so much of his life abroad, they had not
seen much of each other. Colonel Sir William F. Butler has written the
ablest and most interesting of all the biographies which embrace the
whole of Gordon's life, but as he is a Roman Catholic, it could not be
expected that he would enter largely into the religious views of his
hero. The remarks he does make on the subject are, however, excellent
and in good taste. Another capital sketch of Gordon has been produced
by the celebrated war correspondent Archibald Forbes, who not
unnaturally devotes most of his space to the military aspect of
Gordon's career, and says but little about his religious life. From the
religious standpoint the best information can be got from the "Letters
of General Gordon to his Sister," edited by Miss Gordon. There seems to
have been a special bond of sympathy between the brother and sister,
and she seems to have been made the recipient of all his confidences,
religious and otherwise.
In order to get a clear and accurate conception of Gordon's many-sided
character, I have made myself acquainted with all these authorities on
the subject. There is another little book to which I am indebted--"Letters
from Khartoum," written by the late Frank Power, correspondent of the
_Times_ at Khartoum during the siege. It gives a good insight into
Gordon's life in the beleaguered city. I have further had the advantage
of hearing many anecdotes and incidents that throw a light upon the
personality of one who undeniably ranks amongst the great men of the
century. Nevertheless I feel that to represent the religious and
professional life of a man like Gordon, who was so essentially original
and unlike other people, is a very difficult task, so I have, as far as
possible, quoted his own words in giving expression to his views.
The play of "Hamlet" without its leading character could not be more
deficient than a sketch of the life of General Gordon without a careful
setting-forth of his religious views. It would be impossible to point
to one in this nineteenth century who was a more complete living
embodiment of the truth contained in the text, "This is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith." He was a man of faith, a
man of prayer, a devout student of the Word of God; and though he was
_in_ the world, and took far more than his share of the ordinary duties
of life, he was not _of_ the world. Mr. Gladstone was right when he
said from his seat in the House of Commons, "Such examples are fruitful
in the future, and I trust that there will grow from the contemplation
of that character and those deeds other men who in future time may
emulate his noble and most Christian example." Gordon must ever remain
a mystery to those who have not got the key to his character, and my
desire is simply to place that key in the hands of young men, so that
they may study him for themselves, and may learn to turn to the same
source whence he derived his wisdom and his force of character.
Such noble examples are not often seen, for Christian heroes in this
world are all too few. It is, then, our bounden duty to take pains that
the example set by one who has been termed "the youngest of the saints"
shall not be lost on the young men who come after him, and who have not
had the privilege of seeing him and knowing him while alive.
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints in the sands of time."
Goodness in the abstract we are all prepared to admire; but while we do
this, how often we are tempted to declare it an impossible thing to
live up to a high standard. God, recognising the weakness of human
nature, sent His only-begotten Son to reveal the Father, and show us a
life of goodness in human form. He has further descended to our
weakness by permitting us from time to time to see in our midst living
examples of how Christians can follow out the principles of Christ. The
Apostle Paul in one of his Epistles urges his readers to follow him
even as he followed Christ. Good men have their failings, and these we
are to avoid; but while doing so, we should aim at imitating that which
is good and noble and Christlike in their characters. It is a great
privilege to be permitted to come in contact with living men of the
type of Gordon, but that privilege is only for the few. As the great
majority of our fellow-creatures are denied it, the next best thing for
them is to be able to read about these heroes, and thus endeavour to
catch their spirit. Some are inclined to sneer at biographies, and to
say that, speaking generally, they set forward only the good part of
the character of their subjects, omitting all that is faulty. To a
certain extent this is undoubtedly true, owing to the very nature of
things; but, on the other hand, it must be remembered that it is only
the good that we are to follow, and therefore it is useless to direct
attention to a man's failings.
There have been few men who have attained to eminence whose inner life
could be closely investigated and betray so few faults as did Gordon's.
The late Sir Stafford Northcote (afterwards Lord Iddesleigh), leader of
the Conservative Opposition in the House of Commons at the time of
Gordon's death, only expressed the literal truth when he said: "General
Gordon was a hero, and permit me to say he was still more--he was a
hero among heroes. For there have been men who have obtained and
deserved the praise of heroism whose heroism was manifested on the
field of battle or in other conflicts, and who, when examined in the
tenor of their personal lives, were not altogether blameless; but if
you take the case of this man, pursue him into privacy, investigate his
heart and his mind, you will find that he proposed to himself not any
ideal of wealth and power, or even fame, but to do good was the object
he proposed to himself in his whole life, and on that one object it was
his one desire to spend his existence."
But though Gordon's inner life was so thoroughly open to investigation,
there was something about him that made him very human. He had his full
share of faults, and a quickness of temper which manifested itself
unmistakably on occasions. He had also that kind of hasty impatience to
which men are liable who are themselves quick at taking in ideas, or
seeing how a thing should be done, when they are brought into contact
with others of a slower temperament. He was painfully conscious of his
own defects, and judged them far more severely than other people would
do.
What made him so really great was the happy combination of so many
virtues with a corresponding absence of ordinary defects. There have
been Christians as earnest and devout as he; there have been soldiers
as brave and capable; there have been men as kind-hearted; but there
have been few who, while combining all of these good points and many
more, have exhibited so complete an absence of the numerous defects
which blemish the characters of most great men. The late Prebendary
Barnes, who was very intimate with him, remarks that "there are no
popular illusions to be dispelled" as one studies his inner life. Sir
John Lubbock in one of his lectures says of Napoleon, that he was a man
of genius, but not a hero. Now, while Gordon was essentially a genius,
he was even more essentially a hero. True heroism is inseparably
associated with self-sacrifice. A man may be as brave as a bulldog, yet
be entirely wanting in all that goes to make him a hero. The dictionary
definition by no means embraces all that the word implies. Lord
Wolseley in a magazine article remarked that he had met but two heroes
in his eventful life; one of them was that noble Christian officer
General Lee, who commanded the Southerners in the American War, and the
other was Gordon. It was his complete forgetfulness of self, his entire
willingness to sink his own individuality, his own comfort, his own
position, his good name, that made Gordon so Christlike, and lifted him
above the level of his fellows. We are accustomed to read of brave men,
of original thinkers, of great statesmen, of men of genius in different
departments of life, but we seldom read of one who was so entirely free
from what Milton calls the last infirmity of great men--the love of
fame--that he was willing to be nothing that the cause he had espoused
might triumph. When Columbus first saw the River Orinoco, some one
remarked to him that he must have discovered an island. His reply was,
"No such river as that flows from an island; that mighty torrent must
drain the waters of a continent;" and his prediction proved to be
correct. When we see the deep stream of true heroism flowing from the
heart of such a man as Gordon, we instinctively feel that no mere human
heart could produce such a torrent of good works, but that behind the
human being there must be something more. It has been my object in this
memoir to show that the stream that went forth from Gordon's heart to
cheer and bless all with whom he came in contact, sprang from no
isolated fountain, but had its origin in the great ocean of Divine
love, which has existed in all ages, but was revealed more distinctly
on Calvary.
* * *
This is a material, sceptical age, when many pride themselves on their
want of faith, quite forgetting that to believe too little is as
clearly an indication of mental weakness as to believe too much. God
suddenly raised up a man in our midst who was as strong in faith as he
was indifferent to the material things of this world. It was indeed his
faith in things eternal and unseen that made him so indifferent to
things temporal. Gordon might have lived and died amongst us without
being known beyond a limited circle, but that his Master placed him on
high so that men should be compelled to hear about his life. Sir
William Butler in his interesting book, "The Campaign of the
Cataracts," does not at all exaggerate when he says:--
"Who is this far-off figure looming so large between the rifts in
the dense leaguer which the Arab has drawn around Khartoum? We
cannot save him with all this host and all this piled-up treasure;
but, behold! our failure shall be his triumph; for God has raised a
colossal pedestal in the midst of this vast desert, and placing
upon it His noblest Christian knight, has lighted around the base
the torch of Moslem revolt, so that all men through coming time may
know the greatness of His soldier."
In spite, however, of the fact that many failed to appreciate him while
he was alive, we may be thankful to think that there is much good left
in Old England yet; for when the events of his noble career were made
public, there was a widespread feeling of regret that we had as a
nation failed to value adequately a man of so much true nobility.
In an interesting article in "The Young Man," Mr. William T. Stead hit
off the prominent characteristic of the hero's life when he said:
"General Gordon taught the world that it is possible to be good without
being goody-goody. That it is possible to live like a Christ and to die
like a Christ for your fellow-men, without going out of the world or
refusing to do your own fair share of the day's work of the world, is
one of those truths which need to be revealed anew to each successive
generation by the practical demonstration of an actual life." Gordon
was essentially a manly man, but with all his courage and bravery he
combined the tenderness of a woman. He could be "truest friend and
noblest foe." His courage and deeds of daring would have won him that
much-coveted distinction the Victoria Cross, had they been performed in
an English campaign; yet the sufferings of a child, or even of an
animal, caused him the greatest grief. He had a keen sense of humour,
and might have cultivated the mere pleasure-seeking part of his nature,
and become socially very popular. It has been well said that "Humanity
wants more than this; it craves to have its best and noblest powers
called into play, and exercised into action that will tend in some way
to promote the general good." It is for this reason that his example is
such a noble one to set before young men. Most young fellows who are
worthy of the name of men have within them a spirit which admires all
that is manly, noble, and chivalrous; and for such it is a grand thing
to have a high ideal, even if they do not attain to it. As it is true
of men that they cannot habitually think mean thoughts without becoming
mean, or set before themselves a low ideal without lowering themselves,
so is it true that men cannot adopt a high ideal without instinctively
cultivating noble and lofty aims.
Frederick Robertson of Brighton once said, "Hate hypocrisy, hate cant,
hate intolerance, hate oppression, hate injustice, hate pharisaism,
hate them as Christ hated them, with a deep, living, Godlike hatred."
It would be difficult to point to one who was more thoroughly
influenced by the teaching conveyed in this short sentence than was
Gordon. But negative virtues of this kind were not enough for him. One
of his most prominent characteristics was his love for that which is
good, and his incessant efforts to do good. His career was one long
effort to relieve the sufferings of his fellow-creatures, to inculcate
Divine truths, and in every way to make the world better. Few labourers
have been called to such a variety of work; but it was all one to him.
He worked for God in China when fighting to quell a civil war; he
served the same Master at Gravesend when he visited the sick and the
dying, and rescued little street arabs from lives of sin; and the same
motives prompted him when, later on, he devoted all his energies to
mitigating and attempting to abolish the horrors of the slave-trade. He
is dead, but his noble example still lives.
"Press on, press on! nor doubt, nor fear,
From age to age, this voice shall cheer;
Whate'er may die and be forgot,
Work done for God--it dieth not."
CHAPTER II
EARLY LIFE AND CRIMEAN WAR
Charles George Gordon was born on January 28, 1833, at Woolwich, so
that he began his life among soldiers. He was the fourth son of General
Henry William Gordon, who was in the Royal Artillery. His father came
from a good family, which for centuries had been associated with the
army. The old General appears to have been a good officer and a
kind-hearted man, and doubtless the son inherited not only the
instincts of a soldier, but a certain nobility of character which was
conspicuous in the father. When the father held a high command at
Corfu, he made a point of seeking out and paying attention to the
forlorn and uninteresting, who are usually overlooked by others. Those
who have been richly endowed by Nature have little difficulty in
gaining the smiles of society; but in all classes there are a few
unfortunate ones, who are not specially gifted and attractive, and who
consequently often have the cold shoulder turned towards them. It was
characteristic of Charles Gordon's father, as it was of himself in
later years, that these were the ones he befriended and looked after.
If Charles Gordon inherited from his father the instincts of a soldier,
there can be little doubt that on his mother's side he inherited a
spirit of enterprise. His mother was Elizabeth Enderby, the daughter of
an enterprising merchant, who had ships on every sea. It is men of this
class, quite as much as our soldiers and sailors, who have made England
what she is. Samuel Enderby was one of the best-known among the great
merchant-princes of England, and he it was chiefly who opened to
commerce the previously unknown waters of the South Pacific, after the
exploring expeditions of Captain Cook. It is supposed that the first
batch of convicts sent to Botany Bay were conveyed in one of his ships,
and, but for his whaling fleet, Australia might never have been peopled
by English emigrants. His ships carried on a busy trade with America,
and it was one of his fleet that carried the historic cargo of tea
which was thrown into Boston harbour when the Americans severed their
connection with the mother country. His daughter had a large family,
numbering five sons and six daughters. Three only of the sons survived,
and they all attained the rank of General in the army. One of them
became General Enderby Gordon, C.B., of the Royal Artillery, who
distinguished himself in the Crimean War, and also in the Indian
Mutiny. Another became General Sir Henry William Gordon, already
alluded to as the author of "Events in the Life of Charles George
Gordon." Charlie Gordon, to use the name by which the subject of this
memoir was always known among his friends, was a delicate lad, and,
perhaps for this reason, was the special favourite of his mother, who
appears to have been a fond parent and a sensible woman. She was always
proud of her boy, and once or twice even annoyed him by speaking of him
in terms of praise to others.
The Gordon family seems to have been a very happy one, which to a great
extent must have been the result of the mother's influence. One only
needs to read the published "Letters of General Gordon to his Sister"
to see how passionately fond the two were of each other. It might well
have been Gordon that Browning had in his mind when he said--
"I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds
All the world's love in its unworldliness."
A few lines from a letter of one of his brothers, written from the
Crimea, show the fond and almost parental care that the elder exhibited
on behalf of the younger brother. The extract is as follows:--"Only a
few lines to say Charlie is all right, and has escaped amidst a
terrific shower of grape and shells of every description. You may
imagine the suspense I was kept in until assured of his safety."
Like all soldiers' sons, Gordon when young had plenty of opportunities
of moving about and seeing different parts of the world. In many ways
this roving life is disadvantageous to a lad, as in after years he can
never look back to one spot as his home, and consequently he can never
localise the charming associations connected with that word. A boy also
suffers considerably by being moved from one school to another. On the
other hand, his wits, as a rule, get sharpened by contact with new
people and new circumstances. Before Gordon was seven years old, he had
accompanied his father on successive moves to Dublin, and to Leith
Fort. In 1840 he went to Corfu, where his father was in command of the
Royal Artillery. It was here the Duke of Cambridge first made his
acquaintance, as they occupied quarters next to each other, and His
Royal Highness, just forty-five years afterwards, after Gordon's death,
said in a speech at the Mansion House, that he remembered the little
lad then. As Gordon returned to England with his mother at the age of
ten, the fact that the Commander-in-Chief remembered him at all is
another proof of the wonderful faculty of memory which the Royal Family
are said to possess. How differently the Duke would have thought of
that little fair-haired boy with the blue penetrating eyes could he
have looked into the future! It was in 1843 that Mrs. Gordon brought
her son to England for the sake of his education. He went to school at
Taunton for a few years, and then to Mr. Jeffery's, Shooters Hill,
Woolwich, preparatory to entering the Royal Military Academy. His
father had been given an appointment at the Arsenal at Woolwich, so
that his holidays, as well as much of his school life, were spent at
that great garrison town. There was nothing about the youth at this
time that indicated what his future would be. Indeed, the very energies
which in after life made him undertake so much, finding no other vent,
gave him a turn for mischief and fun of all sorts. Later in life, and
even amid all his troubles in the Soudan, he would in his letters
recall with pleasure the boyish days spent at Woolwich.
* * *
In 1848 he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, where he
remained till 1852, when, at the age of nineteen, he received his
commission in the Royal Engineers. Although he was an adept at
surveying and at fortification, two branches of military knowledge
which served him well in after years, he was deficient in mathematics,
and consequently did not make much progress. An event which took place
here might have had very serious consequences, and shows that even then
he had the daring nature which afterwards characterised him. For some
reason it became necessary to restrain the cadets when leaving the
dining-hall, the approach to which was by a narrow staircase. At the
top of this staircase stood the senior corporal, with outstretched
arms, facing the cadets. This was too much for one so full of fun and
energy and so reckless of consequences as Gordon; so, putting down his
head, he charged, and butting the corporal in the pit of the stomach,
sent him flying down the staircase and through a window beyond.
Fortunately the corporal was unhurt, but Gordon was perilously near
dismissal, and having his military career cut short. The act of
insubordination was, however, overlooked by the authorities, but that
it did not subdue his spirit is evident from the fact that on another
occasion, when told by Captain Eardley Wilmot that he would never make
an officer, he tore the epaulets from his shoulders and threw them at
the feet of his superior. This officer, afterwards General Eardley
Wilmot, became one of his greatest friends. Later on, for another
offence, in which many were concerned, and of which it is doubtful if
Gordon really was guilty, he was deprived of half a year's seniority in
the army. This punishment really did him a good turn, for it enabled
him to secure a commission in the Royal Engineers instead of the Royal
Artillery, to which he would otherwise have been posted.
On the 23rd June 1852 Gordon was gazetted to the Engineers, and on the
29th November 1854 he was ordered to Corfu. As the Crimean War was
going on he was much disappointed at this order, and at first
attributed it to his mother's influence, who, he thought, wanted him to
be sent to a safe place. Through the influence of Sir John Burgoyne, an
old family friend, his destination was changed, and on the 4th of
December, during that bitterly cold winter, he writes, "I received my
orders for the Crimea, and was off the same day." This was not the only
time that he exhibited such promptitude in leaving his native land at
the call of his country. Thirty years afterwards he left England for
the Soudan the very day he received his orders.
He arrived in the Crimea on New Year's Day 1855, when all the
celebrated historical battles were over. His martial ardour had
doubtless been stirred by hearing how bravely our men swarmed up the
heights at Alma, charged the Russian gunners at Balaklava, and drove
back the sortie at Inkerman. When he arrived, the siege of Sebastopol
had commenced in earnest, and for some time it was an engineer's
campaign, in which the spade did more than the rifle, or, to speak more
correctly, the musket; for very few of our men had rifles then. Disease
and exhaustion from hardship slew far more than the bullet. Altogether,
it was rather a trying time for a young officer full of fire and
spirit, anxious to see service of that more dashing kind that appeals
to the imagination. The slow advance of the trenches must have tried
his somewhat impatient spirit, which, even in later years, when it
might have been modified by time, was always more ready for a rapid
march, a brilliant flank movement, or something of that kind. But
though the trench-work must have been wearisome and distasteful to a
degree, he threw himself heart and soul into it, meriting the following
praise from Colonel Chesney, an eminent engineer officer: "In his
humble position as an engineer subaltern he had attracted the notice of
his superiors, not merely by his energy and activity (for these are
not, it may be asserted, uncommon characteristics of his class), but by
an extraordinary aptitude for war, developing itself amid the
trench-work before Sebastopol in a personal knowledge of the enemy's
movements such as no other officer attained. 'We always used to send
him out to find what new move the Russians were making,' was the
testimony given to his genius by one of the most distinguished officers
he served under." He not only exhibited the "aptitude for war" of which
Colonel Chesney speaks, but it appears that he also displayed on
several occasions a great deal of that personal courage for which he
afterwards became so renowned. A single incident may be taken as a
specimen of many. One day as he was passing along the trenches, he
overheard a heated altercation between a sapper and a corporal, both
belonging to his own corps. On inquiring into the cause, he discovered
that the corporal had ordered a man to stand on the parapet, where he
was exposed to the enemy's fire, while the corporal, under cover, was
going to hand him some gabions for repairing the parapet. Gordon at
once jumped on to the parapet himself and called the corporal to join
him, letting the sapper hand up the gabions from a place of safety.
Gordon remained until the work was completed, in spite of the fire of
the Russians, and then turning to the corporal said, "Never order a man
to do anything you are afraid to do yourself."
His warlike genius and his courage were by no means his only remarkable
characteristics, and it may not be out of place to mention here a
trifling event, which possibly had a marked influence on his whole
life. It so happened that Colonel Staveley, an officer who afterwards
attained to some eminence, but who at that time was of no great note
beyond being the second in command of a distinguished corps, the 44th
Regiment, mentioned in Gordon's hearing that he had been appointed
field-officer of the day for the trenches for the following day, but
owing to his having been on sick leave, was ignorant of the geography
of the place. Now considering that Gordon was at this time greatly
overworked in the trenches, he might well have been excused had he
allowed Colonel Staveley's remark to pass; for it must be remembered
that it is no part of the duty of a young engineer officer to instruct
infantry field-officers in their duties. But this was not Gordon's
style. He, at all events, never limited himself to a strict routine of
mere duty, and so he cheerfully volunteered assistance, saying, "Oh!
come down with me to-night after dark, and I will show you over the
trenches." Colonel Staveley says, "He drew me out a very clear sketch
of the lines (which I have now), and down I went accordingly. He
explained every nook and corner, and took me along outside our most
advanced trench, the bouquets and other missiles flying about us in, to
me, a very unpleasant manner; he taking the matter remarkably coolly."
Napoleon somewhere remarked that "the smallest trifles produce the
greatest results," an expression to which Gordon himself once referred.
This Colonel Staveley afterwards became General Sir Charles Staveley,
and he it was who first recommended Gordon, when quite a young captain
in China, to take command of that army for which he did so much, and
with which he acquired such renown. Had it not been for Sir Charles
Staveley, possibly Gordon would never have had the opportunity he
needed to show of what good stuff he was made; and who but the General
himself can tell how much that night adventure in the trenches had to
do with his selection later on?
* * *
As I have taken a later opportunity to enlarge on Gordon's simple
faith, I will only say here that up to this period there are no
indications that he was very decided. It appears that during the year
1854, when stationed at Pembroke, a distinct spiritual change came over
him; and if we may judge from one of his letters to his sister Augusta,
it was she who influenced him for good. But there can be no question
that he did not at this time enter into that full assurance of faith
which afterwards characterised him; still, his faith at this period,
though weak, was real. In a letter home, referring to the death of a
Captain Craigie, who was killed by a splinter from a shell, he says, "I
am glad to say that he was a serious man. The shell burst above him,
and by what is called chance struck him in the back, killing him at
once." It is interesting to note from the words "what is called chance"
that he had already learnt to recognise the hand of God in everything,
and that even at this early stage of his career there existed the germs
of that doctrine on which he spoke and wrote so much later on. It has
been said by some that his so-called fatalistic views were imbibed from
the Mohammedans in the Soudan. This sentence in a letter written by him
before he had ever held an intimate conversation with a Mohammedan
shows that such was not the case. Allusion is made to the incident here
merely to show what the condition of faith and state of mind of Charles
Gordon were during the Crimean War. There is one other letter on
record, written about this time, which is worthy of mention here. When
the Commander-in-chief of the Crimean army died, Gordon wrote, "Lord
Raglan died of tear and wear and general debility. He was universally
regretted, as he was so kind. His life has been entirely spent in the
service of his country. I hope he was prepared, but do not know."
* * *
Beyond a few deeds of personal daring, there is not much to record of
Gordon during the Crimean War. He went out, as has already been said,
when the principal battles were over, and his position being quite a
subordinate one, he had no opportunities of distinguishing himself. He
gained the esteem of all those who did come in contact with him; he
took every opportunity of gaining a professional insight into the
science of war; he had many narrow escapes of being wounded, and once
he was struck on the head by a stone thrown up by a round shot. He
formed a high estimate of the Russians as soldiers, with a
correspondingly low one of our allies the French. Writing home of a
favourable opportunity lost of assaulting Sebastopol, he says, "I think
we might have assaulted on Monday, but the French do not seem to care
about it. The garrison is 25,000, and on that day we heard afterwards
that only 8000 were in the place, as the rest had gone to repel an
attack (fancied) of ours at Inkerman."
The history of the Crimean War has been written so often, that it is
unnecessary to occupy much space with detail, especially in view of the
unimportant part Gordon had to play. On June 7th he accompanied the
attacking force under Sir John Campbell, which was severely repulsed in
the assault upon the Great Redan. A delay of over two months took
place, and then the French attacked the Malakoff, and the English again
attempted to seize the Redan. The French were successful, but we
failed, and so it was decided to renew the attack on the following day.
The Russians, however, seeing it was useless to continue the struggle,
evacuated the post on the night of the 8th September. As Gordon was on
duty in the trenches that night, his account of what he witnessed is
interesting. "During the night of the 8th I had heard terrific
explosions, and going down to the trenches at 4 A.M., I saw a splendid
sight. The whole of Sebastopol was in flames, and every now and then
terrible explosions took place, while the rising sun shining on the
place had a most beautiful effect. The Russians were leaving the town
by the bridge; all the three-deckers were sunk, the steamers alone
remaining. Tons and tons of powder must have been blown up. About 8
A.M. I got an order to commence a plan of the works, for which purpose
I went to the Redan, where a dreadful sight was presented. The dead
were buried in the ditch--the Russians with the English--Mr. Wright
reading the burial service over them."
On the fall of Sebastopol Gordon joined the force that besieged
Kinburn, and was present at the fall of that fortress in October. He
then returned to Sebastopol, and was engaged in destroying the defences
of that place, remaining there till the evacuation in February 1856.
Although he received no promotion at the end of the war, he was
selected for the French Legion of Honour, a distinction given to very
few subalterns. Apparently, however, he had already formed to some
extent the opinion which became more decided in later years on the
subject of decorations, for he said in a letter written home a month
before the fall of Sebastopol, "I for one do not care about being
'lamented' after death. I am not ambitious, but what easily earned
C.B.'s and Majorities there are in some cases! while men who have
earned them, like poor Oldfield, get nothing. I am sorry for him. He
was always squabbling about his batteries with us, but he got more by
his perseverance than any man before did." Although Gordon was only
twenty-two years of age at this time, we see the germs of the
characteristics which later in life marked him so prominently. He was
even then indifferent to earthly distinctions; he had a simple faith in
his Saviour; he had repeatedly exhibited courage; and men of eminence
who came in contact with him had recognised indications of peculiar
military aptitude. Though he had had no opportunity of making a great
name for himself at that early date, he had stood the severe test of
his first campaign under great hardships, and while he had not been
found wanting in a single respect, he had gained the professional
respect and esteem of all.
It is unnecessary to enlarge on the time between the Crimean War and
the China War. Suffice it to say briefly, that instead of being sent
home, Gordon had to remain as an assistant-commissioner to settle the
frontier line; for Russia had to give up a piece of territory that in
1812 she had taken from the Turks. For a whole year he was engaged on
this task, and then, when he thought that he was to be allowed to
return home, he was sent to Asia Minor to perform a similar duty, and
was not able to return till he had been abroad three years. He was then
granted leave for six months, and afterwards returned to his work in
Armenia, where he remained till the spring of 1858, thus missing all
chance of being employed in the Indian Mutiny, which broke out in 1857.
On his return to England in 1858, he went to Chatham, where he was
promoted to the rank of captain the following year.
CHAPTER III
CHINESE WAR AND TAIPING REBELLION
A stout old Scotch lady when asked about her health, replied that she
was "weel i' pairts, but ower muckle to be a' weel at ane time." If the
old lady was too large to be perfectly well all over at the same time,
may it not be said that in this respect China resembled her in 1860?
The largest empire in the world was suffering from external as well as
internal troubles. A great portion of the country was given up to all
the horrors of civil war conducted on an enormous scale, while the
united armies of England and France were assaulting it from without.
Space does not permit a detailed account of the causes which led
England to declare war on China. This war was but a phase in a dispute
that had been going on since 1837 between the two countries. In 1842,
to our shame it must be said, by force of arms we compelled the Chinese
to receive opium from India, and thenceforward a very sore feeling
existed against us. Just before the Indian Mutiny this feeling was
awakened by a trifling event, and war was again declared, though, owing
to the outbreak of the Mutiny, we did not press matters for a time. As
soon as our hands were free in India, operations in China were actively
pushed forward, the French troops joining us on account of the murder
of some French missionaries. The war was practically a walk-over, for
the Chinese army was quite incapable of meeting trained forces; and a
treaty having been agreed upon, the representatives of the English and
French returned home.
In March 1859 Mr. Frederick Bruce, brother to Lord Elgin, was sent out
as Minister Plenipotentiary to China, and instructed to proceed to
Pekin to exchange the ratifications of the treaty. He was to be
accompanied by Admiral Hope, the English admiral commanding in China.
Pekin lies inland about a hundred miles, being connected with the sea
by the river Peiho, the entrance to which was commanded by the Taku
Forts. For some reason, the Chinese did not want Mr. Bruce to proceed
to Pekin, or at all events they objected to his proceeding by the river
route, as he proposed. Obstacles to the progress of our ships were put
in the way, and the Chinese refused to remove them. Mr. Bruce thereupon
called upon the Admiral to take steps for their removal, and on his
attempting to do so, the Chinese fired on the English ships with such
telling effect that four gunboats were placed _hors de combat_. Nor was
the Admiral more successful when he attempted to storm the forts. The
result of that day's work was that out of 1100 men in the English force
nearly 450 were killed or wounded. The feeling in England was, that
though Mr. Bruce had acted very hastily in thus committing England to
another war without definite instructions from home, the matter could
not be allowed to rest. The French again joined us, and Sir Hope Grant,
who had distinguished himself in the Indian Mutiny, was appointed to
the command. This General, it may be remarked, was an earnest Christian
no less than an eminent soldier. The Taku Forts were captured and the
troops were marching on Pekin, when the Chinese sought to open
negotiations, in order to prevent our army from entering their capital.
Our representatives consented to enter into negotiations at Tungchow, a
place about a dozen miles from Pekin. Some English officers,
accompanied by a few of the staff of the English and French envoys,
went forward to Tungchow, to make the necessary arrangements for the
interview of the envoys with the Chinese commissioners. A
misunderstanding arose, and twenty-six British and twelve French
subjects were seized, in spite of the flag of truce, and hurried off to
different prisons. Their sufferings as prisoners were frightful, the
result being that half of them died, while the remainder, when
released, bore evident signs of the ill-treatment they had undergone.
The allied armies at once marched on Pekin, and Lord Elgin refused to
treat with the Chinese till the prisoners were restored, which did not
take place till the gates of the city were about to be blown in. The
Chinese were compelled to pay £10,000 for each European and £500 for
each native soldier captured, in addition to having their famous Summer
Palace, valued by some at the almost fabulous sum of £4,000,000,
destroyed.
* * *
Gordon at this time was adjutant of engineers at Chatham, a post a good
deal esteemed by officers of his rank. He had lost the opportunity of
seeing active service in India, but he was determined that it should be
no fault of his if he were not sent out to China. He resigned his
appointment at Chatham, an act which greatly annoyed his father and
many of his friends. Even a high official in the War Office considered
that he was damaging his prospects for life; whereas it turned out that
by going to China he got that opportunity of exercising his talents and
displaying his abilities which he might otherwise never have met with.
Not leaving England till the 22nd of July 1860, he was too late to take
part in the principal action, the taking of the Taku Forts, which were
assaulted on the 21st August. He writes to his mother from Hong-Kong,
"I am rather late for the amusement, which will not vex you." He
arrived at Tientsin on September 26th, and marched with Sir Hope
Grant's force to Pekin. The following is his description of the only
part he was allowed to take before the Chinese surrendered:--
"We were sent down in a great hurry to throw up works and batteries
against the town, as the Chinese refused to give up the gate we
required them to surrender before we would treat with them. The
Chinese were given until noon on October 13 to give up the Anting
gate. We made a lot of batteries, and everything was ready for the
assault of the wall, which is battlemented and forty feet high, but
of inferior masonry. At 11.30 P.M. on the 12th, however, the gate
was opened, and we took possession; so our work was of no avail."
The English and French armies left Pekin on November 8th, a little over
three weeks after the fall of the city, and returned to Tientsin, to
take up their quarters for the ensuing cold weather. Captain Gordon was
the senior engineer officer left behind, and he remained till the
spring of 1862, performing the ordinary engineer duties of providing
accommodation for men and horses. During his stay at Tientsin there is
little of any interest to record. He wisely relieved the monotony of
camp life by making a journey to the Great Wall of China, which has
been visited by very few of our countrymen. He was doubtless prompted
by curiosity to undertake this expedition, but other motives were also
at work. He was a born soldier, he was good at surveying, and doubtless
he was anxious to ascertain by personal observation if any other route
existed than the well-known one by which a Russian army could march on
Pekin; but he was unsuccessful in finding one. During the journey the
cold was very severe; in one place, he says, "the raw eggs were frozen
hard as if they had been boiled."
* * *
It has been already mentioned that China was troubled by an extensive
civil war, which had been going on for many years. It appears to have
commenced in the province of Quang-Tung, and to have been headed by a
schoolmaster, Hung-tsue-schuen. That there must have been good cause
for the dissatisfaction which caused the outbreak is clear from the
fact that not only did thousands join the rising, but that among the
rebels were men of great ability. The leader seems to have been a
strange mixture of good and evil, and at one time appears to have had
an inclination towards Christianity. Unfortunately the evil part of his
nature predominated, and his head was turned by his success. During the
time the Chinese troops were engaged in war with the English, the
rebels had it pretty well their own way, and large tracts of the
country were devastated. Intoxicated with success, the rebels
threatened to attack Shanghai, and the merchants there, seeing how
incapable the Government was to protect them, subscribed to form a
small army to protect their interests. The command of this force was
given to an American named Ward, who appears to have been a born
soldier. His career was short, but he was engaged in seventy actions
and never lost one. So successful was he, that the Pekin authorities
conferred on his troops the pretentious title of "Ever-Victorious
Army." Unfortunately for that army, it soon lost its able commander,
for in September 1862 he was killed when assaulting a city near Ningpo.
He was succeeded by an American adventurer named Burgevine, who turned
out a complete failure, being one of that type of unprincipled men who
do so much harm in non-Christian countries. When he was dismissed,
application was made to the English General to appoint an English
officer to take command. Major Gordon had been ordered to Shanghai from
Pekin at the beginning of May 1862, and consequently had come under the
command of General Staveley, with whom, it will be remembered, he was
acquainted in the Crimea. General Staveley's duty was to clear the
country for thirty miles round Shanghai of the rebels, and in the
performance of this task Major Gordon had been employed. The opinion
that General Staveley had formed of Gordon's courage and ability in the
Crimea was confirmed in the operations around Shanghai, and the
following account is given by that General of Gordon's plucky
conduct:--
"Captain Gordon was of the greatest use to me when the task of
clearing the rebels from out of the country within a radius of
thirty miles from Shanghai had to be undertaken. He reconnoitred
the enemy's defences, and arranged for the ladder-parties to cross
the moats, and for the escalading of the works; for we had to
attack and carry by storm several towns fortified with high walls
and deep wet ditches. He was, however, at the same time a source of
much anxiety to me from the daring manner in which he approached
the enemy's works to acquire information. Previous to our attack
upon Singpo, and when with me in a boat reconnoitring the place, he
begged to be allowed to land, in order better to see the nature of
the defences. Presently, to my dismay, I saw him gradually going
nearer and nearer, by rushes from cover to cover, until he got
behind a small outlying pagoda within a hundred yards of the wall,
and here he was quietly making a sketch and taking notes. I, in the
meantime, was shouting myself hoarse in trying to get him back; for
not only were the rebels firing at him from the walls, but I saw a
party stealing round to cut him off."
There is not much more of interest to record of Gordon's doings at this
period. The rebels having been cleared out of the thirty-miles radius,
Gordon was deputed to commence a complete survey of the whole district,
and in December we find him so engaged. This occupation gave him a
thorough insight into the ways of the people and the nature of the
country. In this month he writes as follows:--
"The people on the confines are suffering greatly and dying of
starvation. This state of affairs is most sad, and the rebellion
ought to be put down. Words cannot express the horrors these people
suffer from the rebels, or the utter desert they have made of this
rich province. It is all very well to talk of non-intervention, and
I am not particularly sensitive, nor are our soldiers generally so;
but certainly we are all impressed with the utter misery and
wretchedness of these poor people."
When General Staveley was applied to for an officer to take command of
the so-called Ever-Victorious Army, his thoughts not unnaturally turned
to Gordon, who, by the way, had received the brevet rank of major at
the end of 1862. Gordon, having seen the failings and shortcomings of
our generals in the Crimea, longed for an opportunity to exercise the
gifts of which he felt conscious. General Staveley, however, shrank
from recommending him for such a dangerous post. He knew well the
plucky, chivalrous nature of the young engineer, and not unnaturally
feared that he would expose himself too much to danger. His affection
for Major Gordon made him at first refuse to recommend him for the
command, and it was not till Gordon repeatedly urged him to yield, and
promised not to expose himself more than necessary, that he consented
to submit his name to the authorities at home. A temporary commander
being urgently required, he appointed the chief of his staff, Captain
Holland, of the Royal Marines, to the post, pending the decision of the
War Office with regard to Gordon. Before the reply arrived from England
two expeditions took place, one against Fushan, under Major Brennan,
and one against the city of Taitsan, in which Captain Holland commanded
in person. Both were disastrous to the reputation of the
Ever-Victorious Army. In the attack on Taitsan some 7500 men were
engaged, about one-third belonging to the Ever-Victorious Army, while
the remainder were Chinese Imperial troops. Unfortunately, Captain
Holland took it for granted that the Mandarins were correct when they
informed him that the moat around the city contained no water, whereas
it proved to be at least thirty feet deep. This was not discovered till
the assaulting party arrived without bridges, and with nothing but
escalading ladders, which they attempted to use as bridges. The ladders
were of course not strong enough to bear the weight of the men, and
broke down. The assault was very soon turned into a rout, and the
"Ever-Victorious Army" not only lost several hundred men, but allowed
two guns to fall into the hands of the enemy.
Such a disaster clearly indicated that an abler man was required at the
head of the Ever-Victorious Army, and forthwith Major Gordon was
appointed. A letter written home at the time shows that he was
conscious that his father would not be pleased at the step he had
taken:--
"I am afraid that you will be much vexed at my having taken the
command of the Sung-kiang force, and that I am now a Mandarin. I
have taken the step on consideration. I think that any one who
contributes to putting down this rebellion fulfils a humane task,
and I also think tends a great deal to open China to civilisation.
I will not act rashly, and I trust to be able soon to return to
England; at the same time, I will remember your and my father's
wishes, and endeavour to remain as short a time as possible. I can
say that if I had not accepted the command, I believe the force
would have broken up, and the rebellion gone on in its misery for
years. I trust this will not now be the case, and that I may soon
be able to comfort you on the subject. You must not fret over the
matter. I think I am doing a good service.... I keep your likeness
before me, and can assure you and my father that I will not be
rash, and that as soon as I can conveniently, and with due regard
to the object I have in view, I will return home."
Gordon's father has been much misrepresented by some biographers. It
has been practically said that he was not able to appreciate his son's
nobility of character; but there is not a word of truth in this. The
old man saw that the post accepted by his son was one of great danger,
made all the more dangerous by that son's daring, and the fact that he
did not understand the language of the people and was not cognisant of
their manner of conducting warfare. He also was of opinion that the
Chinese Government ought to be able to deal with their own internal
affairs, and put down any rebellions that might occur without making a
cat's-paw of his son. One cannot blame the father, who only looked at
the matter in a natural way, judging the circumstances from his own
standpoint. It is impossible to consider the whole facts, and to read
the letters concerning them, without feeling that neither father nor
son had anything of which to be ashamed.
One of the most painful things in life is for a man who is fond of his
parents to have to take a step which he feels will not meet with their
approval, and we may be quite sure that Major Gordon gave this subject
his earnest and prayerful consideration. The path of duty seemed to him
to be clear, and the call was distinct. The whole country was
practically deluged in blood, and not only strong men, but hapless
women and children, were suffering. Could Gordon, knowing what he did,
and feeling conscious of his power to put down the rebellion, have
declined to enter the path so unexpectedly opened to him? Some would
have done so. But opportunities such as this, not seized, are seldom
repeated. His ability, his energies, and his powers might never have
found full scope, and might have proved a curse to him rather than a
blessing. How often one sees in life men with marked ability who are
not only unhappy themselves, but make every one around them equally so.
They seem to have missed the object for which they were created, and
instead of doing their duty in a large sphere, as they might have done,
their stunted energies prevent them from properly filling even a
smaller and humbler sphere. They have missed the opportunity of being
really great, and yet their abilities prevent them from being satisfied
with anything short of this. The call came to Gordon to take his share
in the battle of life, and to do his best to mitigate the sufferings
caused by a horrible civil war, and doubtless he pondered those words,
"He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." He
decided to take the path which appeared to him the one of duty; nor
need we be surprised when we know that he was a thorough Englishman of
the highest type, of whom the words are true--
"There's a heart that leaps with burning glow
The wronged and the weak to defend;
It strikes as soon for a trampled foe
As it does for a soul-bound friend."
CHAPTER IV
GORDON'S FIRST COMMAND
At the age of thirty, Major Gordon obtained his first independent
command, thus surpassing the Duke of Wellington's achievement by four
years. With Wellington, too, able as he showed himself to be, it must
be borne in mind that his first appointment was due to family interest,
for his eldest brother, Lord Mornington, was Viceroy of India at the
time. In Gordon's case, however, personal merit was the only
qualification that brought him to the notice of the General in command,
and it speaks volumes for Sir Charles Staveley's insight into character
that such a wise appointment was made. Sir William Butler in his
biography of Gordon says, "Thus on March 24, 1863, Gordon stepped out
for the first time from that inevitable environment of the mass which
so often keeps entangled in its folds men on whom Nature has conferred
great gifts. Fate, it is said, knocks once at every man's door, but
sometimes it is when the shadows are gathering and the fire is
beginning to burn slow." This was not the case with Gordon, for he was
at about the age at which such famous soldiers as Alexander,
Wellington, and Napoleon have shown that man is full of life and fire.
Many of the brilliant successes attained by those men would never have
been won had they not had opportunities of making their first attempts
till mature years had sobered them down. Nothing gives a man so much
confidence in his own resources as success, more especially if that
success has been gained amidst trying circumstances.
There can be no doubt that the period which we are now considering is
the most interesting of Gordon's life. Up to this time, he had done
well all that he had been called upon to perform in the way of duty,
but had had no opportunity to show of what stuff he was made. A
subordinate may suggest, and a superior may reap the benefit of his
brains, if he has only sufficient intelligence of his own to recognise
merit in others, a quality of which many are deficient. But a
subordinate cannot initiate. And his suggestions, when adopted by a
superior, frequently fail, for the simple reason that only a portion of
his ideas are grasped, and something is lacking. Gordon's new position
gave him not only the opportunity to initiate, but the power to carry
out his ideas. After the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, every
one who had the power to recognise greatness at all knew that Gordon
had qualities that would make him succeed in anything he liked to take
up, and therefore it was no matter of surprise to see him adding
laurels to his crown.
* * *
Hitherto I have refrained from making any allusion to Gordon's personal
appearance, having reserved the point till this period of his history,
when, for the first time, he takes a prominent part on the stage of
life. There have been numerous pictures sold representing him, and
perhaps still more numerous descriptions written. The best that I have
seen are accounts written by two intimate friends. Sir Gerald Graham,
who knew him as a cadet at Woolwich, and was one of the last Englishmen
ever to see him, says:--
"Not over five feet nine inches in height, but of compact build,
his figure and gait characteristically expressed resolution and
strength. His face, though in itself unpretending, was one that, in
common phrase, 'Grew upon you.' Time had now streaked with grey the
crisp, curly, brown hair of his youth, and traced lines of care on
his ample forehead and strong clear face, bronzed with exposure to
the tropical sun. His usual aspect was serene and quiet, and though
at times a ruffling wave of constitutional impatience or
indignation might pass over him, it did not disturb him long. The
depth and largeness of Gordon's nature, which inspired so much
confidence in others, seemed to afford him a sense of inner repose,
so that outer disturbance was to him like the wind that ruffles the
surface of the sea, but does not affect its depth. The grace and
beauty of Gordon's whole expression came from within, and, as it
were, irradiated the man, the steadfast truthful gaze of the
blue-grey eyes seeming a direct appeal from the upright spirit
within. His usual manner charmed by its simple unaffected courtesy;
but though utterly devoid of self-importance, he had plenty of
quiet dignity, or even imperious authority, at command when
required."
Colonel H. G. Prout, an American officer, who served under Gordon in
the Soudan, writing in _Scribner's Magazine_, says:--
"He was rather under than over medium height, of well-proportioned
figure, by no means heavy, but muscular and vigorous in all his
movements. His hair was brown, and curled rather closely. His
complexion was ruddy. He wore a short moustache and small whiskers,
and shaved as carefully when he was in the heart of Africa as when
he was in London. His mouth was resolute, but full of humour. His
smile was quick, and his whole expression was kind, bright, and
ready, but absolutely self-reliant. Only a dull person could fail
to see that here was a man who had nothing to ask or to fear. His
most striking feature was his eyes. These were bright blue, and the
blue and white were of that pure unclouded quality that one sees
only in the eyes of a baby. Only a baby's eyes could be so direct
and sincere. You felt that they looked right into your soul and
laid bare your motives."
Both these descriptions speak of him as seen in the Soudan, but they
are so graphic, that it requires little imagination to see the man
before us a few years younger. At the age of thirty, he was of course
much younger looking; but his general appearance was not one that
changed much. Considering the hardships through which he passed, it was
wonderful how little he exhibited their effects. It will be remarked
that in both of the foregoing descriptions reference is made to his
blue eyes, which certainly were a very prominent feature in his
personality. If we may anticipate events a little, as we are
considering this subject, it is interesting to record that a little
native boy named Capsune, whom General Gordon rescued from the
slave-dealers in 1870, asked the lady who had charge of him after
Gordon's death whether she was quite sure that Gordon Pasha still kept
his blue eyes, and did she think he could "see all through me now?"
Another day he said he was "quite sure Gordon Pasha could see quite
well in the dark, because he had the light inside him."
* * *
This, then, is the man whom the fortunes of war called to fill about as
difficult a position as it is possible to imagine. The enemy he was to
disperse were flushed with victory, having for years been able to defy
all who had attempted to suppress them. Their numbers were overwhelming
as compared with the handful of men the merchants of Shanghai were able
out of their private resources to put into the field; and, as if these
were not sufficient advantages, they had possession of all the large
cities and places of importance for many miles outside the thirty-miles
radius around Shanghai. The army Gordon was called upon to command
possessed a high-sounding name, justly earned by a former commander,
but with his death had passed away all that made the title justifiable.
It was a relic of greatness that had departed, and to one like Gordon,
who had a keen sense of humour, it must have sounded ridiculous in the
extreme. The army consisted of about 3000 Chinese, with 150 officers,
the latter being principally foreigners. The officers were by no means
wanting in pluck, nor deficient in military skill, but there appears to
have been a great want of discipline among them, to say nothing of the
existence of keen jealousies of one another. The fact that in one month
eleven officers died of _delirium tremens_ speaks volumes as to their
character. Colonel Chesney says, "Among them were avowed sympathisers
with the rebels, and avowed defiers of Chinese law; but all classes
soon learnt to respect a General in whose kindness, valour, skill, and
justice they found cause unhesitatingly to confide; who never spared
himself personal exposure when danger was near; and beneath whose firm
touch sank into significance the furious quarrels and personal
jealousies which had hitherto marred the usefulness of the force."
The headquarters of this little army was a place called Sung-kiang, to
the west of Shanghai, and close to the border of the thirty-miles
radius around that city. Gordon proceeded on the 24th March 1863 to
assume his command, and it was thought by many that he would endeavour
to take the city of Taitsan, and thus wipe out the reproach of his
predecessor. But his military instinct showed him a far more important
step to take. About twenty miles inland and fifty miles from Gordon's
headquarters was a city called Chanzu, which was the only one in that
neighbourhood loyal to the Imperial cause. It had been held by the
Taipings, but the chief had persuaded his men to abandon the cause of
the rebels and throw in their lot with the Emperor. No sooner had their
decision been taken, than the Taiping General marched a strong army on
the city to punish them. The defenders were holding out bravely, but
they were reduced to starvation, and were suffering terribly. It would
have been both impolitic and cruel to have left this city to its fate;
so Gordon determined to relieve it. Chanzu was, however, cut off from
the sea by an intervening city called Fushan, which commanded the
river; so Gordon decided that, with the object of relieving the Chanzu
garrison, Fushan must be captured. As has already been mentioned, one
expedition against this place had signally failed. Gordon took two
steamers, packed 1000 men into them, 200 of whom were artillerymen, and
with this small force proceeded to attack Fushan. In spite of the
overwhelming numbers against him, the enemy being able to draw
reinforcements from the army investing Chanzu, he captured the place.
No sooner had it fallen than Gordon set to work to relieve Chanzu. This
he had very little difficulty in doing, for as soon as the rebels found
that they were between two armies and exposed to attack in opposite
directions, they moved off.
This brilliant achievement accomplished, Gordon retired to his
headquarters at Sung-kiang. By Imperial decree he was made a Tsung-Ping
or Brigadier-General. He had passed through his first ordeal, and had
come out of it with credit. He had not only struck a blow, but had done
it with such promptitude, that every one began to get confidence in
this young "General," as he was hereafter termed by the Chinese. To
take a handful of men, not stronger than a full-sized English regiment
at that time, to transport them in one day fifty miles, and to capture
a city with overwhelming odds against him, exhibited capacity combined
with promptness of action equal to anything recorded in the annals of
the greatest soldiers. His predecessor, with an army numbering
7500--for he had a large force of Imperial troops in addition to his
own--had been terribly beaten in his attempt to take Taitsan. But
Gordon with a force of only 1000 men had captured one city and relieved
another, at a much greater distance from headquarters, and that with
the loss of only two killed and six wounded. In the account of the
attack, no light is thrown on the question why Gordon succeeded so
brilliantly when others failed. He simply pounded away with his
artillery, which was not strong, for three hours, and having effected a
breach, he ordered an assault of infantry, which swept everything
before it. This in itself is such a simple operation, and so much like
what had been done before, that it does not account for his success. As
the question will doubtless often occur to the reader, why Gordon so
often succeeded where others failed, it may be well to quote a few
words written by Colonel Prout, dealing with this very subject:--
"Gordon took and kept his unquestioned place as a chief, not by
force of gold lace, banners, and salutes of trumpets and guns, but
_by doing things_. He filled Carlyle's definition, _King_,
_Könning_, which means _Can_-ing, Able-man. All who are at all
familiar with his character and deeds must recognise the fact that
he was a man of great qualities, both of mind and character. He did
not do things accidentally or by mysterious means. Whatever
business he had in hand, he knew it thoroughly in all its details.
He knew his men and their motives, and he grasped all the minutiæ
of his material. He was a highly educated modern soldier, and from
the principles of grand strategy down to mending a gun-lock or
loading a cartridge he knew his profession. He was not a great
student of books, but his quick and strong mind seized and held
facts with wonderful power. His most remarkable intellectual
quality was directness."
This paragraph from a magazine article throws light on the cause of
much of Gordon's success. Lord Beaconsfield used to say that genius was
the art of taking pains. It will be remembered that the principal
reason why Gordon's predecessor failed at Taitsan was, that he took it
for granted that he was rightly informed when he was told that the
ditch around the city was dry, and consequently he came unprovided with
bridges. Gordon, on the other hand, took nothing for granted. Every
detail was personally looked into, every difficulty anticipated by his
eager restless brain. Consequently everything he took in hand
succeeded; and yet to the superficial observer it all seemed so simple.
The power of anticipating and providing against difficulties is one of
those gifts which go a long way towards ensuring success in any calling
in life, and that gift Gordon possessed to a remarkable degree. Whether
it was innate, or whether it was cultivated, is difficult to say.
Possibly it was implanted by nature to a certain extent, and in
addition he cultivated and developed the natural gift.
* * *
A brief allusion has already been made to Burgevine, the American who
for a short time commanded the Ever-Victorious Army after the death of
Ward. This man plays a somewhat important part in connection with
Gordon's operations, so it may be well here to give an account of his
history, for just at this time an order arrived from Pekin that he was
to be reinstated in his command, if the Governor of the province
approved. The career of Burgevine is, it is to be feared, an
illustration of the lives of many adventurers who, having failed in
some civilised country, go out to seek their fortunes among a
non-Christian people, and bring disgrace upon Christianity. Without
principle, destitute of all honourable feelings, they imbibe all that
is low and bad in the countries to which they go, yet all the time they
are called Christians, and looked upon as such by the natives. In
almost every large city belonging to a non-Christian people will be
found one or more of this type, to whom the lines might with truth be
applied--
"Hast thou with Asiatic vices filled thy mind,
And left their virtues and thine own behind?"
Burgevine was by no means deficient in military skill or courage, but
he was utterly unprincipled, and, as the sequel will show, he was as
ready to sell himself to the enemy as he was to fight for the
Imperialists. The immediate cause of his dismissal from the command of
the Ever-Victorious Army was that he went to the Chinese treasury
officer with a hundred men of his bodyguard and demanded money for
arrears of pay. That official being unable to comply, Burgevine struck
him and ordered his followers to seize 40,000 dollars. No sooner was he
dismissed, than he went to Pekin to plead his cause there, and got the
American ambassador to back him up, the latter of course being ignorant
of his real character. The authorities at Pekin yielded, and sent him
back to Shanghai to assume command, provided the local Governor had no
objection. A shrewd suspicion exists that this was but a diplomatic way
of getting out of a difficulty, as the authorities at Pekin must have
known that the Governor could not possibly consent to receive Burgevine
back after what he had done. This Governor was Li Hung Chang, a man of
considerable power, who could see that he had in Gordon a man of
ability; and though he did not at that time appreciate him as he
afterwards did, still the fascination of Gordon's character, that so
endeared him to many others, had already begun to work. Consequently
the Governor strongly opposed the return of Burgevine, and at the same
time took the opportunity of informing the Pekin authorities that
Gordon was gaining the confidence of his men, as well as of the
merchants and others at Shanghai. This for a time closed Burgevine's
career, though we shall hear of him again.
* * *
The city of Chanzu was relieved on April 5th, but it was not till the
end of that month that Gordon again took the field. His brief but
brilliant campaign had shown the weak points in his force; so he spent
some three weeks at headquarters in getting his little army better in
hand. Among other things, he put his men into a uniform of dark serge
with green turbans, so as to make the enemy suppose that they were
Europeans. At first this little reform was very unpopular, as most
reforms are, and the men were called by their countrymen "Imitation
Foreign Devils." When the Ever-Victorious Army regained its right to
its title, the men became proud of their uniform, and would not have
exchanged it for their old costume. Dr. Wilson in his interesting
account of this period tells us that Woo, the Tautai of Shanghai, even
went so far as to purchase thousands of boots of European make, such as
were worn by Gordon's men, that their footprints might be seen about,
as the rebels were so impressed with fear of the disciplined Chinese
troops! Not only uniform, but every other detail necessary to the
improvement of the army, was during that short space of time gone into,
and on April 29th Gordon once more commenced active operations.
This time the object of attack was the city of Quinsan, about thirty
miles to the north-west of his camp; but, when _en route_, he heard
that his Imperialist allies, who were besieging the city of Taitsan,
had been most treacherously treated. The rebels had proposed to
surrender, and had permitted upwards of 1500 men of the Imperial army
to enter their city. Suddenly they closed the gates and captured these
men, beheading some 300 of them, including the brother of Li Hung
Chang. This disaster to his allies decided Gordon to turn aside and
lend his aid in reducing Taitsan, the city where his predecessor had
suffered such a terrible defeat. It must have been an anxious time when
he led his small army against a place which would remind them so
forcibly of the greatest disaster they had experienced.
The city of Taitsan had a garrison of some 10,000 men, with a
considerable sprinkling of white men, some of whom were deserters from
the English and French armies, together with American sailors and
others. Gordon's army consisted of only 3000 men; so that not only had
his opponents the benefit of walls, from behind which they might
deliver their fire, but they outnumbered his little force by more than
three to one. Taitsan was, however, a great prize to be aimed at, for
its fall would blot out the remembrance of the disaster which had
occurred when it was last attacked. Captain Holland on that occasion
had assaulted it from the south. Gordon's quick military eye showed him
that he ought to seize the canal leading into the town on the western
side. He had little difficulty in possessing himself of this water-way,
and he made use of it to bring his guns and ammunition to within 600
yards of the walls. At that distance he opened fire, under cover of
which he pushed forward some of his guns to within 100 yards,
concentrating all his fire on one spot, with the object of effecting a
breach in the walls. At each discharge of his guns at this short range
masses of masonry fell, forming a gradual slope, up which the
assaulting party could rush. Steamers and boats came up the canal and
turned into the moat, forming a perfect bridge across the water. The
defenders, seeing their danger, wisely concentrated their fire on the
temporary bridge, and rushed to defend the breach. Captain Bannen, who
led the attack, was killed, and the assaulting party were for a time
driven back. Another column was formed for the assault, and this time
Gordon kept up an incessant artillery fire over the heads of his own
men as they advanced. Again they met with a determined resistance, but
after a severe hand-to-hand struggle, the attack was victorious, and
the defenders, seized with panic, actually trampled down many of their
own side in their haste to escape.
Thus on May 1, 1863, fell this important stronghold; but the victory
cost Gordon dearly, as his killed and wounded were very numerous for
such a small force. The vacancies, however, were filled up by
volunteers from among the prisoners he took, and these men made
admirable fighting soldiers, though they had of course somewhat lax
notions on the subject of discipline. Although Gordon received little
or no help from the Imperial troops, they caused him a good deal of
pain and annoyance by an act committed on the fall of Taitsan.
Capturing seven retreating rebels, the Imperial troops tied them up,
and, according to their own horribly cruel custom, forced arrows into
their flesh, flayed bits of skin off their arms, and thus exposed them
for several hours previous to execution. This was supposed to be in
revenge for the treachery of the Taipings, already alluded to, and they
contended that these seven men were specially to blame. Be that as it
may, a very natural sense of indignation was awakened throughout the
civilised world, and questions were asked in Parliament about the
incident, it being assumed that Gordon and other British officers were
concerned in these atrocities. As Gordon, in spite of his bravery and
his being habitually brought into the presence of bloodshed, was one of
the most tender-hearted of men, it need hardly be said that he was
deeply grieved and pained by the whole circumstance, and it was through
his influence that General Brown, then in command of the British troops
at Shanghai, informed the Chinese Governor that, on a repetition of
such barbarity, all the British officers would be withdrawn.
CHAPTER V
PROGRESS OF THE REBELLION
Before Gordon captured Taitsan, it will be remembered, he was on his
way to attack the city of Quinsan. Having accomplished his purpose of
assisting his allies, the Imperial troops, he reverted to his original
object. He wanted to leave Taitsan to be held by the Imperialists, and
at once to march on Quinsan; but owing to the want of discipline in his
army, he was unable to do this. His men had taken a large amount of
loot from Taitsan, and were anxious to dispose of it, and their young
General, much against his will, had to accept the inevitable. With an
army such as that which Gordon had under his control, it does not do to
draw tight the reins of discipline too suddenly. It had for a long time
been in a lax condition, and Gordon saw that he must gain the men's
confidence before sharply asserting his authority. With an army well in
hand, the right thing would have been to follow up his victories
immediately, so that the enemy should not have time to recover
themselves. But instead of being able to go on at once from Taitsan to
Quinsan, he had to return to headquarters, and there wait till the end
of May, reorganising and making preparations. So bad was the discipline
among his officers, that just before he started for Quinsan, all the
majors commanding regiments resigned, simply because he promoted his
commissary-general, an English officer named Cooksby, to the rank of
colonel. This step was taken because Gordon found that disputes were
always occurring about rations and quarters between the
commissary-general and the regimental commanders. As the latter had,
and the former had not, military rank, the commissary was in an awkward
position. Gordon therefore decided that, the commissary being one of
his most important staff officers, he ought not only to have military
rank, but that his rank should be of a superior kind. It is worthy of
note that in this respect Gordon was just twenty years ahead of the War
Office authorities, for it was not till the year 1884 that commissariat
officers in the English army were accorded military rank. The amusing
part of the outbreak of insubordination amongst Gordon's majors was,
that though they resigned their commissions, they asked that they might
be allowed for the sake of loot to accompany the expedition to Quinsan.
Gordon accepted the resignations, but declined to let the majors take
part in his expedition. But he had to yield this point; for on the
following day, when the "fall in" sounded, the men supported their
commanding officers, and refused to obey. The majors, however, seeing
that there was only one General, and that he might be killed, in which
event the command would probably devolve on one of themselves, thought
better of the matter, and fell in with their men as usual. The only
wonder is that, with such an army and such disorganised material, the
young commander should have been able to accomplish so much against
overwhelming numbers.
When Gordon reached Quinsan, he found the Imperial troops under
Governor Li and General Ching in a most unfortunate position. They were
supposed to be besieging the city, but the enemy were practically
besieging them. Gordon quickly drove off the enemy that were seeking to
encompass the Imperialists, and then he found that General Ching was
anxious to attack the eastern gate of the city, a proceeding that did
not at all commend itself to him. He saw at a glance that the western
gate would probably be the better one to attack, as the enemy would be
less prepared there. Quinsan was an important place, and was strongly
defended; it was held by at least 15,000 men, and the moat round the
fortification was forty feet wide. Before coming to a definite
decision, Gordon made a reconnaissance in a steamer, taking the
Governor and General Ching with him. Being convinced by personal
observation that he was right in the step he intended to take, he
informed the Chinese General to that effect, and in a letter written
some little time after the event he says, "General Ching was as sulky
as a bear when he was informed that I thought it advisable to take
these stockades the next day, and to attack on this side of the city."
At dawn on the 30th May, having surrounded the city with his own and
the Imperialist troops, he took a small force by water to a point on
the main line of communication between Quinsan and Soo-chow, only
defended by a weak stockade, which was easily taken. Gordon then took
the celebrated little steamer the _Hyson_, and went towards Soo-chow.
Meeting a large force of the enemy on the way to reinforce Quinsan, he
opened fire upon them. Little anticipating an attack in this direction,
they got into confusion and fled, the steamer following them. Having
inflicted heavy loss on the retreating army and steamed right up to
Soo-chow, he turned round and went at full speed till he got back to
Chunye, where he had that morning left a small detachment of riflemen.
It was 10.30 P.M. and a rather dark night. His intention was to wait
till the next morning and renew the conflict by attacking the city. But
the rebels within the walls had been seized with panic, and knowing
that the city was invested on three sides, they made a rush for
Soo-chow. In doing so they met Gordon's steamer returning. Again she
opened fire and blew her whistle, the sound of the latter doing much
damage by adding to the noise and increasing the panic among the
rebels. The men were in dense masses, and each shell mowed them down in
large numbers. Gordon says, "The mass wavered, yelled and turned back."
The city had fallen, and by 4 A.M. on May 31st everything was quiet,
and it was reckoned that from three to four thousand of the enemy must
have been killed, drowned, or taken prisoners. The little steamer had
won the day, having fired some eighty or ninety rounds; the troops had
done little or nothing. Only two men on Gordon's side were killed and
five were drowned.
Thus in a single day had fallen this important city, which was the key
to the position of Soo-chow. Indeed, the impetuous young commander was
anxious to dash on and seize Soo-chow itself, but he could not inspire
the Imperialist General with his spirit. He says, "I have no doubt of
my having been able to take Soo-chow the other day, if the Mandarins
had been able to take advantage of our success." The capture of Quinsan
was one of the most brilliant strokes of success Gordon had during the
whole of the campaign, and he attributed it to the fact that the lines
of communication between that city and Soo-chow were neglected, and
that he was permitted to get his steamer into the canal, which ran
parallel with the only road. Both the armies which he defeated were
compelled to march along the road, as on each side of the road there
was water. Through the men marching thus in dense masses, the shot and
shell from the steamer carried death and destruction, creating much
confusion. The Taiping rebels were evidently not prepared to fight such
an amphibious general as Gordon proved himself to be.
It may be well to remark here on the fertility of resource and the
initiative power which this young commander possessed. It mattered not
what difficulties arose, his fertile brain sooner or later devised a
method by which he could overcome them. It is said that the best doctor
is not necessarily the cleverest man, but the one who is most fertile
in resource. If disorders of the human frame refuse to yield to one
kind of treatment, another must be tried, and so on, until at last the
right method is discovered. There can be no question that this is also
true of the military and other callings in life. The man of a fertile
brain, ever ready to suggest new methods when old ones have failed, is
the most likely to succeed. It was to this cause, more than to any
other, that Napoleon at first owed his success. When he was a young
man, it was the custom in Europe to imitate blindly the tactics of
Frederick the Great of Prussia, and to rely on ponderous heavy squares
and a slow stiff method of moving. Napoleon was the first to see that,
however suitable such tactics had been during the time of the great
Prussian general, before the development of artillery, they were not
adapted to the changed circumstances under which battles were fought in
his own time; and so in 1806 at Jena he smashed to pieces the Prussian
force, which came against him in all the pride of inherited traditions,
handed down from one of the greatest generals of his age. While it is
almost a truism to say that what is appropriate to one age is not
suited to another, it is only men of the type of Napoleon and Gordon
who are quick enough to see the necessity for a change of method, and
sufficiently resourceful to adopt new plans. Ninety-nine generals out
of a hundred would never have thought of utilising a little steamer to
destroy a land force, but would have proceeded in the old-fashioned
methods of a siege, and perhaps have lost an enormous number of men in
the process. The enemy are always more or less prepared for
conventional methods of fighting, but it stands to reason that they are
unprepared for new ideas. Hence much of Gordon's success.
In addition to this fertility of resource, Gordon displayed wonderful
courage in carrying out his ideas. No sooner had Quinsan fallen than he
saw that it would be a good thing to make a change in his headquarters,
and to transfer them thence from Sung-kiang. With the old centre were
associated all sorts of traditions connected with the army before his
time, in the days when discipline was lax, and the one idea of the
soldiers was that the war was being carried on for the sake of
providing them with loot. There were loot agents and other means by
which the officers and soldiers could easily dispose of their booty.
All this was demoralising, so Gordon decided on an immediate change.
But the army looked at the matter from a different standpoint, and a
mutinous spirit arose. Mr. Wilson informs us that the artillery
threatened to blow the officers to pieces, and a written notification
to that effect was sent to the General. Gordon at once summoned the
non-commissioned officers, who he knew were at the bottom of the plot,
and threatened to shoot every fifth man if the name of the writer of
the notice were not revealed. Immediately they all commenced to groan,
one corporal making himself specially conspicuous by groaning very
loudly. Whether Gordon had any suspicions with regard to this
particular man, we are not informed, but he directed him to be seized,
and ordered a couple of infantry soldiers standing by to shoot him. He
then had the others confined, and again repeated his threat to the
effect that one in every five would be shot if the name of the writer
were not given up. Events proved that the corporal already shot was the
culprit. No doubt many in this country will judge Gordon harshly with
regard to this summary method of dealing out justice; but it must be
remembered that a civil war was going on in which thousands of lives
were annually sacrificed. Gordon knew perfectly well that he could
suppress it if he had a disciplined force under him. He also knew what
a frightful scourge an undisciplined army might become. According to
the tradition of all nations, each man in Gordon's army had forfeited
his life by disobedience in the presence of the enemy. What was the
life of one man compared with the thousands of women and children who
were suffering through the horrors of that war? We in England have been
for so long mercifully spared the misery of war in our own country,
that possibly public opinion has become a little too sentimental.
During the Trafalgar Square riots in 1887, it was suggested by some
that the Fire Brigade should pump cold water on to the rioters in order
to disperse them; and one writer seriously deprecated such a step, on
the ground that possibly the poor fellows who got the ducking might
catch cold! It is possible to go from one extreme to another, and,
while wishing to avoid harshness and cruelty in any form, to become too
sentimental, and thus do harm in an opposite direction. Sentimental
people too often forget the sufferings of the many innocent victims
when contemplating those of a few culprits. War is too stern a thing
for us to trifle with, and those whose duty it is to be engaged in it
must be prepared to suppress with a strong hand anything in the form of
incipient mutiny.
With regard to the threat which Gordon held out of shooting one man in
five, such a form of punishment is by no means uncommon in countries
more civilised than China. It has been frequently resorted to in
Russia, and as recently as 1876, during the Russo-Turkish war, on
symptoms of a mutiny exhibiting themselves among the Russian troops,
the commander-in-chief threatened to shoot one in every ten of the men,
and thus quelled the manifestation. There can be no question that
Gordon's acting as he did was far more plucky than all the personal
exposure to danger through which he went. Many men who would be willing
to sacrifice their own lives in the path of duty would have shrunk from
taking such a step.
But though Gordon was quite prepared to fight as long as he could
benefit his fellow-creatures by so doing, he was essentially a man of
peace, and he loathed the horrors of war. On the 29th June he says:
"The rebels remain very quiet, and we are engaged in organising another
attack upon them. I have, however, sent a letter to the rebel chiefs,
offering my good services towards any arrangements they may be inclined
to enter into with the Imperialists, by which more fighting may be
avoided. I am most anxious to have as little fighting as possible, and
shall do my best to bring about a pacific solution of the question."
This was the more magnanimous when we consider that he was perfectly
confident in the ultimate result of the conflict, and that in the way
of glory acquired by brilliant victories he had everything to gain in
terminating the war by force of arms instead of by diplomacy.
The rebels at this time had received a great addition of strength by
Burgevine going over to them, together with upwards of 300 English,
American, and other adventurers. On this subject Gordon says:--
"The fact that Burgevine has joined the rebels will no doubt very
much prolong the rebellion, which, humanly speaking, would almost
have been put down this year, or at the latest next spring; but the
force at my command is too small to do everything, and one has to
act with great caution. I feel that I have so many lives intrusted
to me, that these are, as it were, at my disposal, and I will not
risk them in an enterprise I consider rash. Burgevine is a very
foolish fellow, and little thinks of the immense misery he will
cause this unhappy country, for of the ultimate suppression of the
rebellion I have little doubt."
In another letter he says, "I think the rebels will soon get very tired
of their auxiliaries, and the latter of the rebels."
The worst thing, however, that Gordon had to fear was treachery on the
part of his own officers and men. Burgevine knew most of them well, and
had managed very skilfully to associate his own dismissal from the
command of the Ever-Victorious Army with the fact that he was striving
for the interests of the men and officers. Consequently he was to a
certain extent a martyr in their eyes, and he made the most of this
fact in endeavouring to corrupt some of Gordon's officers. For
Burgevine was not more successful in alluring Gordon's army from its
allegiance than in defeating it in open conflict. Having made one or
two unsuccessful attempts, and discovered that the brilliant young
commander was more than a match for him, he asked Gordon to meet him at
an appointed place, where he told him that he had determined to desert
the rebel cause. This did not surprise Gordon. What did astonish him
was that Burgevine went on to propose that Gordon and he should
together capture Soo-chow, throw off all allegiance to either
Imperialists or rebels, organise an army 20,000 strong, and set up an
independent kingdom of their own. Being a mere adventurer himself, he
little understood the man of honour with whom he had to deal. Gordon at
once cut short further communications. Burgevine and his men, however,
being so disgusted with their masters, decided to leave them at all
costs, and sent to inform Gordon that at a signal-rocket being fired by
him they would rush out under pretence of a sortie and join him. The
signal was given, the sortie was made, and a good many got away, but
Burgevine and a few others had been suspected, and detained. When
Gordon discovered this, he generously wrote to the rebel chiefs,
explained to them that it was against their interests to compel men to
fight against their will, and asked for their release. The messenger
who bore the letter was interrogated as to whether he thought it
possible for Gordon to be bought over, and his reply was of course in
the negative. Strange to say, Gordon's request was granted, and
Burgevine was released and handed over to the British Consul. Dr.
Wilson informs us that:--
"At the very time Burgevine was negotiating with Gordon in regard
to his relief, he had proposed to Jones, his lieutenant, a plan for
entrapping the man whose efforts were being directed toward the
succour of him and his followers. Jones revolted against treachery
so base, and he and Burgevine had a 'difficulty.' Jones told the
story thus: Burgevine drew out his revolver, which he cocked and
discharged at my head from a distance of about nine inches. The
bullet entered my cheek and passed upward; it has not yet been
extracted. I exclaimed, 'You have shot your best friend!' His
answer was, 'I know I have, and I wish to God I had killed you.'"
We hear no more of Burgevine in connection with Gordon, so we here part
company with him. According to Mr. Wilson, he had subsequently a very
chequered career, and finally was reported to have been drowned by
accident when a prisoner in the hands of the Imperialists. This writer
says, "I have no reason to suppose that the account of his death given
by the Chinese authorities was untrue; and if they did drown him
purposely, they saved themselves and the American authorities a good
deal of trouble." The only wonder is that a scoundrel who so thoroughly
deserved to be hanged should ever have found a watery grave.
After the Taipings had got rid of Burgevine and his followers, they
began to lose heart, for they felt that the principal reason why these
men had deserted their cause was that it was a losing one. They thought
that their chances of holding Soo-chow against the ubiquitous Gordon
were slight, and, as is often the case under such circumstances, they
underrated their own resources, and overrated those of their opponents.
They made sure that Gordon would soon assault the city, but this he had
no intention of doing. "With the small force at one's command," said
he, "I am not at all anxious to pit myself against a town garrisoned by
seven, or even ten times our number, if it can be avoided." Instead of
attempting an open assault, which must have resulted in a desperate
loss of life, Gordon gradually surrounded the city with his own and the
Imperial troops, capturing all the smaller places around it, so that it
might be completely invested. Here again he exhibited his quick
perception of the weak points in his opponents' character. Even the
greatest coward amongst our own countrymen would fight desperately if
he felt that all his means of retreat were cut off; but, strange as it
may seem, this is not a characteristic of all nations. Once let a
Chinaman feel that his means of retreat are destroyed, and he is filled
with panic. Gordon says, "The great thing in taking stockades from the
rebels is to cut off their retreat, and the chances are they will go
without trouble; but attack them in front, and leave their rear open,
and they will fight most desperately."
Interesting as it would be to many, space does not permit us to follow
the details of the siege, and the severe struggles Gordon had in
different places, when capturing strongholds of the enemy in order to
cut off their supplies. There are, however, a few personal incidents
that occurred at this time which deserve mention, in order to show what
marvellous escapes he had, and what great personal danger he was often
in. Once when sitting on the Patachow Bridge, a somewhat celebrated
structure of fifty-three arches and 300 yards long, which he had
captured from the enemy, a couple of shots from his own camp struck the
bridge close to him. He was alone, and he could not account for the
firing. Leaving his seat to ascertain the cause, he got into his boat
and started to row across the river, when suddenly an enormous mass of
masonry fell from the very spot where he had been sitting, and nearly
struck the boat. These two accidental--or shall we more correctly call
them providential?--shots saved his life. Again, on the assault of
Leeku, he discovered that one of his officers, Lieutenant Perry, had
been in communication with the enemy. When challenged, this officer
made an excuse which Gordon accepted, saying, "I shall pass over your
fault this time, on condition that, in order to show your loyalty, you
undertake to lead the next forlorn hope." But Gordon forgot his
decision, and was leading the forlorn hope himself, when suddenly an
officer next to him was struck down. That officer was Lieutenant Perry,
who fell into the arms of his commander. Many of Gordon's officers were
brave men, but not a few of them exhibited the white feather, and he
had, in order to set an example of personal courage, often to take the
lead. Sometimes he would take one of these timid ones by the arm, and,
in his quiet way, conduct him into the thick of the fight. His men used
to think he had a charmed life, and they termed the little cane which
he always carried in place of a sword "the magic wand of victory."
There is one incident which should be mentioned here, although the
public did not hear of it for many years after it occurred. When the
Ashantee expedition was contemplated, and speculation was rife as to
whom the command should be offered to, somebody wrote to the _Times_,
signing himself "Mandarin," and, among other things which he mentioned
about Gordon, said that during the month of September, before the
capture of Soo-chow, Gordon had decided to attack certain detached
forts around that place. For some reason his men again mutinied, and
refused to march off the parade-ground.
"At this juncture General Gordon arrived on the spot, with his
interpreter. He was on foot, in undress, apparently unarmed, and,
as usual, exceedingly cool, quiet, and undemonstrative. Directly he
approached the leading company, he ordered his interpreter to
direct every man who refused to embark to step to the front. One
man only advanced. General Gordon drew his revolver from an inside
breast-pocket, presented it at the soldier's head, and desired the
interpreter to direct the man to march straight to the barge and
embark. The order was immediately complied with, and then, General
Gordon giving the necessary word of command, the company followed
without hesitation. It was generally allowed by the officers, when
the event became known, that the success in this instance was
solely due to the awe and respect in which General Gordon was held
by the men; and that such was the spirit of the troops at the time,
that had any other but he attempted what he did, the company would
have broken into open mutiny, shot their officers, and committed
the wildest excesses. In less than a week the spirit of the troops
was as excellent as before, and gradually the whole garrison joined
in a series of movements which culminated in the fall of Soo-chow."
CHAPTER VI
END OF THE REBELLION
The city of Soo-chow was in the possession of seven rebel generals,
each exercising an independent command, but all recognising one of
their number, Moh-Wang, as their head. Though the rebels had upwards of
40,000 men in the city, they were badly provided with food, and
dissensions broke out among them. Most of the generals were for
yielding, but the brave old chieftain, Moh-Wang, opposed such a step.
Some of the generals made overtures to Gordon and General Ching, making
no other condition than that their lives should be spared. But
overtures were of no use so long as Moh-Wang refused to acquiesce. A
council of war was summoned, and hot words passed. One general seized
the brave old warrior, whose spirit was so invincible, stabbed him, and
severed his head from his body. That night, November 29, 1863,
Soo-chow, which had been held by the rebels since 1860, was
surrendered. In order to prevent his men from looting it, Gordon sent
them back to Quinsan, but he asked Governor Li to grant them two
months' extra pay, which was denied, though later on one month's pay
was granted. This meanness on the part of the civil Governor to a body
of men who had done so much for the country very nearly led to a
mutiny.
The culminating point of the young commander's grievances against his
employers was yet to come. On December 6th, when Gordon visited the
captured city, he discovered that the rebel generals who had
surrendered had all been killed, in spite of the stipulation that their
lives were to be spared. It is said that Gordon was so enraged with
this cowardly treachery that he burst into tears, and then went forth,
revolver in hand, to seek the Governor, in order to shoot him. It is to
be regretted that Sir Henry Gordon, in his biography of his brother,
denies this circumstance. Nothing is gained by attempting to screen the
faults of a great man. The commander of the Ever-Victorious Army was
undeniably a great man, but it is also true that he had his share of
human failings, among them a tendency to act on the impulse of the
moment. His honour had been touched, he felt that he had been disgraced
and would appear in the light of one who could trample on a fallen foe,
and there can be no question as to the accuracy of the fact, that in
his impulsiveness he did seek the life of Li Hung Chung; though the
Governor afterwards became a bosom friend of his. Mr. Wilson, another
biographer, who has already been quoted, read his MS. over to Gordon,
so that his account is likely to be accurate. In it he says:--
"His first impulse, when his two steamers came in sight, was to
obtain hold of the Futai (Governor Li) and inflict summary justice
on that high official. General Ching, however, gave timely warning
of Gordon's incensed state, and Li very wisely hurried into the
city, thus avoiding a meeting. For some days after this Gordon's
anxiety to meet with the Futai was only equalled by that of the
Futai to keep out of his way, and this was the only period of his
campaign during which the commander of the Ever-Victorious Army
_burdened himself with carrying arms_."
The last words of this quotation, which I have italicised, clearly
indicate what the nature of the summary punishment would have been had
the two men met. Gordon had an opportunity of striking out those words,
but he was too honest to do so, for he knew they were true. Even though
we may blame him for his actions, we cannot but admire the honesty that
would not allow the fact to be concealed.
Both as a matter of policy and a matter of honour, Gordon saw what a
fearful mistake had been made. He was of opinion that had an honourable
understanding been come to with the rebels at this time, every other
city in their hands would have yielded, and thus the rebellion would
have been terminated. He at once demanded an investigation into the
conduct of Governor Li and General Ching, and refused to co-operate
with them further. While Gordon was taking action in this matter,
Governor Li was sending despatches to Pekin claiming far more credit
than was fairly due for the Imperial troops, though he did not forget
to praise Gordon as well. The Emperor sent the young commander 10,000
taels (about £3500) in token of his approbation, together with money
for the troops and the wounded. The latter was accepted, but the former
was indignantly declined, and that in a very few stiff sentences
written on the back of the paper containing the order:--
"Major Gordon receives the approbation of his Majesty the Emperor
with every gratification, but regrets most sincerely that, owing to
circumstances which occurred since the capture of Soo-chow, he is
unable to receive any mark of his Majesty the Emperor's
recognition, and therefore respectfully begs his Majesty to receive
his thanks for his intended kindness, and to allow him to decline
the same."
Writing home he said, "To tell you the truth, I do not want anything,
either money or honours, from either the Chinese Government or our own.
As for the honours, I do not value them at all, and never did. I should
have refused the 10,000 taels even if everything had gone well, and
there had been no trouble at Soo-chow."
Gordon's army remained at Quinsan till the end of February 1864. They
had received £7000 from the Chinese Government, but this, of course,
did not compensate them for being prevented from taking their share of
loot, and not only were they dissatisfied, but their inaction was
doubtless doing them much harm. Moreover, the rebel forces were
recruiting rapidly, and all the good work that Gordon had accomplished
appeared likely to be undone. Gordon heard all the excuses that
Governor Li had to offer, and came to the conclusion that Asiatics must
not be judged according to the standard by which Englishmen, with a
higher sense of honour, measure themselves. He therefore made up his
mind to emerge from his retreat, and, stipulating that in the event of
future capitulations nothing should be done without his consent, he
once more took the field with the object of terminating the rebellion.
On the 17th February 1864 he had been promoted to the rank of
lieutenant-colonel by the War Office authorities. This, of course, made
no difference to his position as general in the Chinese army. His
resumption of hostilities was marked by similar tactics to those which
he had previously found so successful. Blows rapidly struck at distant
points appear to have been his aim. Having captured Soo-chow, the next
place of importance was Nankin, the second largest city in China, about
100 miles to the north-west. The rebels were in strong force there, and
the place was too distant to make it practicable to capture it, at
once, as there were several cities _en route_ still in the hands of the
rebels. Gordon decided to take these latter in detail, and he commenced
with Yesing, which fell easily on March 1st. He then proceeded to
Liyang, which yielded even more easily. The horrors witnessed on this
march were awful. Gordon said of the inhabitants:--
"Those who still remained alive had been driven to eat human flesh,
and the unburied bodies of the dead were in a condition which
showed that much of this revolting food had been consumed." "The
scenes I have witnessed of misery are something dreadful; and I
must say that your wish for me to return with the work incomplete
would not be expressed if you saw the state of these poor people.
The horrible furtive looks of the wretched inhabitants hovering
about one's boats haunts me.... I hope to get the Shanghai people
to assist, but they do not see these things: and to read that there
are human beings eating human flesh produces less effect than if
they saw the corpses from which the flesh is cut."
Gordon's fate was to be hampered by the blunders of his friends. On
March 20th he marched on Kintang; but just as he was about to commence
operations, an alarming despatch reached him from the Imperial
commander. The Imperialists had actually not been able, with their
immense force, to hold cities that Gordon with his small one had
captured and handed over to their charge. Fushan had fallen, and Chanzu
was in danger. However, Gordon thought that as he was so close to
Kintang, he might as well take it, and so he made an assault. It did
not, however, yield so easily, and Major Kirkham, one of his best
officers, was badly wounded. Gordon himself was also wounded below the
knee. A soldier who saw him struck was about to proclaim the event,
when Gordon stopped him for fear he should discourage the men. He went
on fighting till he fainted from loss of blood, and Dr. Moffitt[2] had
to carry him out of action.
[2] Surgeon Moffitt of the 67th Regiment was a man of ability and
courage. He became a great personal friend of Gordon's, and
afterwards married one of Gordon's sisters. He died in the year
1882. He was the only officer who remained with Gordon from the
beginning of the end of the campaign.
Sir Frederick Bruce, the British representative, wrote to Colonel
Gordon after he was wounded at Kintang:--
"Be cautious of yourself. I beg you not to look upon your position
merely from a military point of view. You have done quite enough
for your reputation as a gallant and skilful leader. We all look to
you as the only person fit to act with these perverse Chinese, and
to be trusted with the great interests at stake at Shanghai. Your
life and ability to keep the field are more important than the
capture of any city in China."
Gordon had to abandon further attempts to take Kintang, and retire on
Liyang. Here he took to his steamer, as he could no longer march owing
to his wound, the first and last that he ever had. With 1000 men he
started on March 24th for Woosieh, to find that the rebels who had been
threatening that place had fallen back. On the following day, lying on
his back in a steamer, and accompanied by a flotilla, Gordon made a
dash with the 1000 men he had right into the midst of the country held
by the rebels, in order to ascertain their disposition of troops. Well
might Colonel Chesney say, "One scarcely knows here whether most to
admire the pluck, or to wonder at the confidence of the wounded
commander!" He quickly took in the whole situation, and made up his
mind that a place called Waisso, which was held by the enemy in some
force, was the point at which to aim. Unfortunately, he was unable to
get about himself, yet he could not take the entire force, which had
been increased by one more battalion, on board. Consequently he had to
divide it, leaving a detachment to go by land. The officers put in
charge seem to have fallen into every mistake it was possible for
soldiers to make. The attacking regiments did not co-operate, their
flanks were left unprotected, and a long gap was permitted to occur
between two regiments. To make a long story short, the assault failed,
the assailants narrowly escaping annihilation. Unquestionably this
signal failure was due to the fact that the commander, being wounded,
could not see to details himself, and was obliged to leave his
principal arm, the infantry, to the direction of others.
Fortunately the Imperialists with 6000 men came to Gordon's assistance.
The Imperial force had been doing remarkably well in their recent
conflict with the enemy, but unfortunately had lost their commander,
General Ching. This man, who at first had been so jealous of Gordon,
had afterwards learnt to know and respect him, and Gordon had acquired
quite an affection for him in spite of his faults. Gordon was deeply
grieved to hear of his death, indeed it is said that he burst into
tears. It is touching to read an account of the death of this heathen
general, who, it will be remembered, had been a leading man among the
rebels before they degenerated. Mr. Hake's account is founded on the
statement of Governor Li, who says that even when he knew his wound was
fatal, he concentrated his mind on the affairs of the country. He
pointed out that though the rebels had been beaten, their strength was
not to be despised, and begged his colleague to order his officers to
be careful in battle. He remarked that brave men were not easily to be
found, and he bitterly regretted his own fate, by which he was
prevented from doing his duty to his country. When gradually sinking,
he ordered his servant to bring the yellow jacket presented to him by
the Emperor, and to assist him on with it. He then bowed his head
towards the Imperial Palace, and thus he yielded up his brave patriotic
spirit.
After the junction of the Imperialists with Gordon's force there was
little difficulty in the capture of Waisso, and with the fall of that
place on April 6th it became evident that the campaign was fast drawing
to a close, the only places of any importance remaining in the hands of
the rebels being Nankin and Chanchufu. The former Gordon left to the
Imperialists, who felt confident of victory, and were very jealous of
the successful young soldier. Indeed, it is evident that they could
easily have taken Chanchufu also, but they apparently were in no hurry
to close the campaign. Many of them were mere mercenaries, who did not
want to remove the _raison-d'être_ for their existence as an army.
Strong suspicion exists that an incident which occurred soon after
Gordon reached Chanchufu, and when he was making preparations for the
attack, was really an attempt on his life. He and Major Tapp, a clever
artillery officer, were engaged in the construction of a battery, when
suddenly one of the picquets fired a volley at the battery, and the
rebels, not knowing the cause, fired also. Gordon and his party were
thus between two fires, and Major Tapp and several others were killed.
The first assault on Chanchufu was made by the Imperialists, and
defeated. Gordon was then asked to co-operate in another assault, which
he did; but not being supported by the Imperialists, he also failed.
After this a combined assault was made, and again it failed. Seeing
that the place was too strongly defended for an ordinary assault,
Gordon taught the Imperialists how to approach it by means of trenches.
Another assault was made by the Imperialists, who were on the point of
being driven back again, when Gordon came to their rescue, and the
stronghold was taken. When the rebel commander was captured he said
that, except for the aid of Gordon and his men, he could have defied
all the Futai hosts to take the city from him. The garrison was 20,000
strong; the place was skilfully fortified; and the rebels, thinking
that they would receive no quarter, fought with great desperation and
recklessness of life.
With the capture of Chanchufu ends the list of Gordon's fights in
China. His next care was to break up the Ever-Victorious Army. He knew
this to be very important, for he felt that they would be a standing
danger to the country. With men like Burgevine about, who were not
wanting in skill, and were as unprincipled as they were daring, it was
impossible to say what might happen if the command of such an army fell
into bad hands. The Chinese Government behaved very generously, giving
each wounded officer £900, and others on a similar scale. In a letter
written home, Gordon says:--
"The losses I have sustained in this campaign have been no joke:
out of one hundred officers I have had forty-eight killed and
wounded; and out of 3500 men, nearly 1000 killed and wounded; but I
have the satisfaction of knowing that, as far as mortal can see,
six months will see the end of this rebellion, while if I had
continued inactive it might have lingered on for six years. Do not
think that I am ill-tempered, but I do not care one jot about my
promotion or what people may say. I know I shall leave China as
poor as I entered it,[3] but with the knowledge that through my
weak instrumentality upwards of eighty to one hundred thousand
lives have been spared. I want no further satisfaction than this."
[3] It may be well to note here that his predecessor, Ward, who
was killed in action, accumulated the sum of £60,000, although he
was not very long in command, and was not considered at all an
unscrupulous man.
A large sum of money was offered to Gordon and at first declined; but
when pressed to accept it, he decided to do so, and divide it among his
men. His pay had been good, being over £3000 per annum, but, in his
usual generous manner, he had spent it almost entirely on his men,
especially in providing comforts for the sick and wounded.
The last fight had taken place on May 11th, and by June 1st Gordon had
disbanded his army, his promptness exhibiting itself to the very last.
"So parted the Ever-Victorious Army," says Colonel Chesney in his
"Essays on Modern Military Biography," "from its general, and its brief
but useful existence came to an end. During sixteen months' campaigning
under his guidance it had taken four cities and a dozen minor strong
places, fought innumerable combats, put _hors de combat_ numbers of the
enemy, moderately estimated at fifteen times its own, and finding the
rebellion vigorous, aggressive, and almost threatening the unity of the
Chinese Empire, had left it at its last gasp, confined to the ruined
capital of the usurper."
Gordon paid a visit to the Imperialists who were investing Nankin,
where he interested himself in their mode of conducting the siege, and
gave a good deal of useful advice as to the future existence of the
Imperial army. Beyond this he took no active part. Nankin fell; the
"Heavenly King," who was the author of the rebellion, committed
suicide; and Chung Wang, his celebrated general, was beheaded,
permission being given to him at his own request that he might first
write his autobiography. One cannot but feel that it would have been an
act of policy as well as of clemency had the Emperor spared the life of
this noble fellow Chung Wang, more especially as the so-called Heavenly
King had committed suicide. As long as he was alive Chung Wang showed a
loyalty to him that was worthy of a better cause. He might easily have
escaped with his life but that he was anxious to save the life of the
son of the Heavenly King, a worthless individual, with all the faults
of his father and none of his ability. Chung Wang gave up his
fleet-footed horse to the young man, who did not even know how to make
use of the chance thus given him. The loyalty Chung Wang displayed to
the rebel chief might easily have been transferred to the Emperor.
Governor Li we shall hear of again, for when Gordon revisited China in
1880 he found his old friend still alive and active. There can be no
doubt that Gordon's personal influence over this man was considerable,
and when we next hear of him it is as standing almost alone among his
countrymen, pleading for a peaceable policy. The latter part of the
following letter, which he wrote to Gordon when in the Soudan, shows
that he had imbibed a good deal of that public spiritedness which made
Gordon so willing to sacrifice himself for the good of others. The
letter was dated March 22, 1879. Li Hung said:--
"I am right glad to hear from you. It is now fourteen years since
we parted from each other. Although I have not written to you, I
often speak of you, and remember you with very great interest. The
benefit you have conferred on China does not disappear with your
person, but is felt throughout the regions in which you played so
important and active a part. All these people bless you for the
blessings of peace and prosperity which they now enjoy. Your
achievements in Egypt are well known throughout the civilised
world. I see often in the papers of your noble works on the upper
Nile. You are a man of ample resources, with which you suit
yourself to any kind of emergency. My hope is that you may long be
spared to improve the condition of the people among whom your lot
is cast. I am striving hard to advance my people to a higher state
of development, and to unite both this and all other nations within
the four seas under one common brotherhood."
An amusing circumstance was the utter bewilderment of the Regent of
China, Prince Kung, as to how he could reward Gordon. The money offered
he had refused for himself, and as for honours and distinctions they
had no charms for him. He accepted the yellow jacket, the highest
distinction the Chinese Emperor could confer (corresponding to our
Knight of the Garter), but this he did only to please his parents, not
because he valued it himself. Prince Kung called on the English
Minister at Shanghai and said, "You will be surprised to see me again,
but I felt I could not allow you to leave without coming to see you
about Gordon. We do not know what to do. He will not receive money from
us, and we have already given him every honour which it is in the power
of the Emperor to bestow; but as these can be of little value in his
eyes, I have brought you this letter, and ask you to give it to the
Queen of England, that she may bestow on him some reward which would be
more valuable in his eyes."
Gordon had already been awarded a brevet lieutenant-colonelcy in the
Royal Engineers, so he was now made a Commander of the Bath; but he was
as indifferent to English honours as to those of the Chinese. As for
Prince Kung's letter to Queen Victoria, we are informed by Mr. Hake
that he has good reason to believe it never reached the Queen, but was
allowed to remain in a pigeon-hole in the Foreign Office! Well may we
quote the words of Axel Oxenstiern to his son, to which the late Prince
Consort once referred in a letter to the late Emperor of Germany, at
that time Crown Prince of Prussia, "Oh, my son, mark how little wisdom
goes to the government of states." Mr. Hake also informs us that when
General Gordon presented himself at the War Office, the Secretary of
State seemed hardly to have heard his name, and knew nothing of his
work in China. Yet this was the man that at the age of thirty had saved
from ruin the largest empire of the world! We are indeed a marvellous
people. We are always manufacturing sham heroes, and parading them
before the world. Yet when we have a real one in our midst we utterly
ignore him. When one thinks of the many campaigns in which England has
been engaged since the Chinese war was over, the public may well be
astonished at a military system which allowed one of its ablest
soldiers to live in obscurity, and not even be consulted in the affairs
of the nation. Sir William Butler with withering scorn says:--
"Nay, he was almost a stranger in his own land, and, when nearly a
generation had passed away, and the fruit of many blunders had
accumulated in Egypt a load of disaster that seemed too heavy to be
borne, Gordon was at last called from the obscurity in which he had
been so long consigned--he was, his own brother has told us, as a
person who was now heard of for the first time."
A report has been circulated that he was offered the command of the
Ashantee Expedition and declined it. This report has absolutely no
foundation. The truth of the matter is that he never was offered a
command on active service of any kind by the British authorities. Those
who manage the affairs of other nations were able to recognise the
merits of this remarkable man, and to find opportunities for him to
exercise his powers, but our own authorities seem to have been
absolutely blind to his qualities. Yet this was he of whom Colonel
Chesney, a great writer on military matters, said, "If there is a man
in the world who can conduct a war with honour, thoroughness, and
humanity, and bring it to a satisfactory close without needless delay
or expense, England has that man in 'Chinese Gordon.'" It is, of
course, quite possible that every army has some men of military genius,
whose services are never utilised in positions of importance, for the
simple reason that they are unknown to the authorities. There is no
profession in which it is more difficult to pick out the born leaders
than is the case in the army. Plenty of men who promise well when in a
subordinate position prove miserable failures when in command. Men who
can pass examinations with flying colours are not always able to make
use of their knowledge in the field. A foreign power had, however,
provided a field in which one of our officers was able to show what
wonderful military instincts he possessed. It is therefore all the more
difficult to find excuses for those who were responsible for the fact
that, as far as England was concerned, Gordon was allowed to live in
obscurity, and was never even offered a command of any sort in any of
the campaigns in which his countrymen were engaged.
CHAPTER VII
AT GRAVESEND
When Lord John Russell visited Elba, he was asked by Napoleon, then a
prisoner there, whether he thought that his rival, the Duke of
Wellington, would be able to live without the excitement of war, which
Napoleon used to call "a splendid game." It seemed incredulous to
Napoleon that a man who had shown himself so good a soldier as
Wellington should retire into the position of a simple citizen, and
Napoleon, little knowing the great man, thought that he would probably
use his influence as a statesman to involve his country in war again.
To some it may possibly seem strange that Gordon, who had distinguished
himself as a soldier, and had saved an empire, should again take up the
humble avocation of an engineer officer, but so he did. He was in
reality only a captain of engineers, though a brevet lieutenant-colonel
in the army, when in February 1865 he returned home. He took a few
months' leave, which he spent quietly at Southampton with his father
and mother, shunning all publicity.
On the expiration of his leave he was sent to Gravesend, to superintend
the building of some forts for the protection of the Thames. During one
of our periodical panics as to the safety of the country, large sums of
money were voted for defensive purposes. Gordon's duties were very
subordinate as far as these defences were concerned. The plans were
made out by others, and his duty was merely to see them executed.
Though he worked very hard in the performance of his duty, he made no
secret of the fact that he thoroughly disapproved of the way in which
the national money was being wasted. It is said that one day, when the
Commander-in-chief came to inspect the progress of the work, Gordon
denounced the whole thing most vehemently, and exposed its
worthlessness. It is characteristic of the man that he had the courage
of his opinions at all times. He must have been carried away a good
deal by his feelings, for when he got home that day he said that he
might have been put under arrest for the way in which he had denounced
the work of his superiors. As it was, his Royal Highness smiled
good-naturedly at his vehemence, and took no further notice. But though
Gordon thoroughly disapproved of the nature of the defences on which he
was engaged, he worked very hard at them, and it certainly is through
no fault of his if the Thames fortifications are not all they should
be. He was an early riser and a hard worker, and as he hardly ever went
into society, and did not go in for games, he found time to engage in
all kinds of religious and philanthropic work, in addition to his other
duties. He spent six years at Gravesend, and, although this is not a
popular station with many officers, he found so much to be done, that
in after years he used to look back upon the time spent there as the
happiest of his life. After the stirring scenes through which he had
passed in the Crimea and in China, it may have appeared to some a very
commonplace, uninteresting sort of life to eke out for so many years,
but no one more than Gordon felt the force of the truth conveyed in the
lines:--
"'A commonplace life,' we say and we sigh;
But why should we sigh as we say?
The commonplace sun in the commonplace sky
Makes up the commonplace day.
The moon and the stars are commonplace things,
And the flower that blooms, and the bird that sings;
But dark were the world, and sad our lot,
If the flowers failed, and the sun shone not;
And God, who studied each separate soul,
Out of commonplace lives made His beautiful whole."
One remarkable characteristic of Gordon was the persistent way in which
he avoided publicity of any sort, evading every effort to bring him
forward. When he first came to Gravesend no one knew him, and he used
quietly to take a seat in the gallery of the parish church. As soon as
it was discovered that the stranger who occupied such a humble place,
was no other than the renowned "Chinese Gordon," great efforts were
made to induce him to take a more prominent position. But it was in
vain. What was good enough for the poor was good enough for him, and he
did not approve of the rich and the eminent occupying all the good
seats, to the exclusion of the poor, whose souls were just as valuable
in the sight of God. Again, he steadily refused to take the chair at
all public meetings. It was not that he could not speak at such
gatherings, for, although he was not a good speaker, he was by no means
a bad one, and he was always willing to conduct services for the poor.
He had a horror of taking a prominent position, and the only occasion
on which he ever broke through his rule as to taking the chair, was at
a meeting of some three hundred children over which he presided. He
was, however, very much at home when sitting in front of a class of
children, and this he infinitely preferred to giving formal addresses
even to children. Only once was he persuaded to address the whole
school collectively. Speaking to a large number of children requires a
special gift, and this he did not possess. His strength with children
lay in the fact that he obtained a personal influence over each one
individually. With a small class he could get to know each by name, and
win the affections of all one by one. The words, "He loved little
children," which were the only epitaph on the tomb of a certain
Sunday-school teacher, might well be applied to Gordon. It is difficult
to say what kind of teacher he was, or whether he availed himself of
the latest developments in the art of instructing children; but this is
quite clear, that he had one of the best qualifications a teacher can
possess, love for his pupils. There is a tale of a lady visitor who
once asked a little boy why he went so far to his Sunday-school, when
there were as good ones nearer at hand. The reply was, "They may be as
good, but they are not so good for me;" and when the lady asked him
"Why not?" he said, "Because they love a fellow over there." Love is a
qualification that is too often lacking in teachers, but it was one
that Gordon displayed very prominently. Need we wonder that the "dear
little fellows," as he used to call them, responded by loving him in
return?
Nor was it only in the Sunday-school that Gordon's love for the young
was exhibited; he also had a class in the ragged school, and used to
invite his boys to his house for instruction in the evening on week
days, as well as on Sunday evenings. When three or four of them had
scarlet fever, he nursed them in his own house, and would sit up at
night talking to them, till he could get them to drop off to sleep. He
used to call these boys "kings," a name suggested to him when reading
Rev. i. 6, "And hath made us kings and priests unto God." He exclaimed
to his sister, "Why then, these are little 'kings,'" and he stuck to
the name. He took great pains to secure good posts for his boys in
ships going to sea, and on a map on his wall he kept a number of little
flags representing the boys he had sent abroad. These flags he used to
move about as he heard from time to time where the lads were. We need
not be surprised that among these boys were some who ardently loved
him, and that they used to give expression to their feelings by
scribbling on the wall with a piece of chalk, as boys will do, "God
bless the Kernel," "C. G. is a jolly good fellow," or "Long life to our
dear teacher, Gordon." The ragged school at Gravesend still retains the
Chinese flags which he presented to the boys, flags which he had
himself captured from the Taiping rebels. They are now kept as precious
relics, to be displayed only on special occasions. Sir Henry Gordon
says, that when the news reached England of the death of the heroic
defender of Khartoum, a young man, about twenty-five years of age,
called on him to inform him that he and others who had been Gordon's
boys at Gravesend, wished to put up some kind of memorial to his
memory, and that he was willing to give £25. He was much overcome when
speaking of all that Gordon had done for him.
Another writer relates that on one occasion when Gordon was watching
some workmen, he saw among them a lad looking very unhappy. On his
inquiring, the lad said, "Mother has left us, and gone away from home;
and everything there is so miserable that it is not like home at all."
At once the boy was invited to spend his evenings at the Fort House,
where he was instructed in the night school class, and taught to read
his Bible. Some little time after this he fell ill, and the doctor
decided that he ought to be taken to the local infirmary. "Shall I see
you there, Colonel?" he asked with wistful eyes; "I know I am going to
die." "But you are not afraid," replied Gordon, "for now you know who
says, 'I am the Resurrection and the Life.' He will be as near to you
in the infirmary as here, and as near to you in death as in life." "Oh
yes, I know Him now;" and so he did, for as the narrator said, "The
Colonel had led him to Christ by his life and teaching." When in the
hospital the young lad said to a nurse, "Read the Bible to me, there is
nothing like it." "But you are very tired," said the nurse. "Yes, I am
very tired. I do long to go to Jesus." This is a briefly narrated
incident, and is but a specimen of many that might be recorded if space
permitted.
Gordon also took special pleasure in visiting the workhouse and talking
to the paupers, remembering that--
"Down in the human heart, crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore;
Touched by a loving heart, wakened by kindness,
Chords that were broken will vibrate once more."
Workhouse inmates are, as a rule, a very disheartening class to visit.
A large percentage of them have been brought there by faults of their
own, and most of them are beyond the age when one may reasonably hope
for reform. Gordon's kind heart was proof against disappointment, and
he persistently used to visit the old people, supplying tobacco to the
men, and tea to the women, and chatting away to them, in an effort to
help them to forget their troubles. He was mindful, too, of the sick,
caring not who the sufferer was nor what his complaint; so long as he
was in need, so long was Gordon a regular visitor at his sick-bed.
Frequently when he heard that the doctors had ordered delicacies beyond
the reach of a patient, he would purchase what was required, and
administer it with his own hands. Mr. Lilley says:--
"On one occasion he visited a poor, wretched woman, in an
apparently dying condition. He at once lighted a fire, made some
gruel for her, and fed her with his own hand. He afterwards
appointed a nurse to look after her, and sent a doctor to her, and
it is believed that she is still residing at Gravesend, a living
testimony to his generous care."
The people so loved him, that often instead of sending for the
clergyman when in sickness or trouble, the poor would send for the
Colonel living at Fort House, the official residence of the officer
commanding the Royal Engineers.
Even his house and garden seem to have been placed at the disposal of
the poor in the neighbourhood. A visitor once remarked to his
housekeeper on the beautiful vegetables his garden produced. She
replied that the Colonel never touched them, but used to let the poor
people come in and cultivate plots of ground in the garden, and grow
their own vegetables; and even when presents of fruit were sent him by
friends, he used to take them to the bedside of some sick person, who
he thought needed them more than he did.
As for his own food, nothing could have been more simple and plain. The
Rev. S. H. Swaine says, "Coming home with us one afternoon late, we
found his tea waiting for him--a most unappetising stale loaf and a
teapot of tea. I remarked upon the dryness of the bread, when he took
the whole loaf (a small one) and crammed it into the slop-basin, and
poured all the tea upon it, saying it would soon be ready for him to
eat, and in half-an-hour it would not matter what he had eaten." It is
said that some of the boys whom he invited to live in his house were a
good deal disappointed when they saw the kind of fare that was put
before them. They had fondly imagined that the occupant of such a grand
house would have sumptuous meals, which they would share, and they were
not prepared for the plain salt-beef, and other good but very plain
food, to which the Colonel was in the habit of sitting down. But though
he denied himself luxuries of any sort, he often used to take grapes
and other dainties to the sick and the dying.
All forms of distress aroused his interest; and when the late Canon
Miller of Greenwich was collecting money for the suffering people at
Coventry, during the cotton famine, Gordon took a large and valuable
gold medal, that had been presented to him by the Empress of China, and
having with a gouge scooped out his name, which was engraved upon it,
put it into an envelope and despatched it to the Canon, merely
notifying briefly the object for which it was sent. Efforts have been
since made to discover the fate of the medal, which was of the best
gold, and twice the size of a crown piece, but owing to the death of
Canon Miller, they have hitherto been unsuccessful.
Gordon was, indeed, generous to a fault, and sometimes he was taken in
by impostors; but as he had a good knowledge of human nature, he was
not deceived so often as many with his generous heart would be. His
generosity was only limited by his purse, and there were times in his
life when he drew the line too fine, for, as he himself once said, "I
assure you that many a time I have not known where my food was to come
from, nor if I should find a place in which to lie down at night." So
long as there was money in his pocket, so long had he money to give
away; but on many occasions he forgot that he had a long railway
journey before him, and that the generosity he displayed to the needy
would not be extended to him at the railway ticket office. But on the
whole, his money was well laid out; many is the lad he started in life,
many the waif he picked up from the gutter, who, now a well-to-do
respectable member of society, might, but for him, have been a
criminal, getting into trouble himself, and leading others astray.
* * *
It would be interesting to follow more in detail the career of this
remarkable man at Gravesend, but space forbids. Gordon only spent six
years at this kind of work, and much of the time was engaged in his
official duties, yet the results were so good, that one cannot but
regret that a longer part of his career was not passed in the same way.
From his letters written in the Soudan, it is evident that he often
thought of devoting his old age to work among the poor, had he been
spared. It was, however, willed otherwise, and we are only permitted to
see how much can be done by a man in six years, when his heart is
thoroughly in the work.
It has been remarked more than once, that Gordon's military career
reminds one of the great soldier Cromwell, who did so much to rescue
England from the degenerate condition into which it had fallen under
the miserable rule of the Stuarts. In the same way the six years spent
by Gordon at Gravesend, very forcibly remind us of the great religious
philanthropist, Lord Shaftesbury, who did perhaps more than any other
man of this nineteenth century, or any other century, to relieve human
suffering, and to solve some of those difficult problems that are
associated with the condition of the poor. Lord Shaftesbury had little
in common with Cromwell, except that both loved God and hated tyranny
and injustice. Their ways of going to work were very different, but one
cannot help seeing that Gordon combined much of both characters; and
had his lot fallen in different times or different circumstances, he
might have undertaken the work of either. He had all the martial
instinct of a Cromwell, and, with it, the love of relieving suffering
which so characterised Lord Shaftesbury. His one object seems to have
been to--
"Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o'er the erring ones, lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus, the Mighty to save."
Gordon was never allowed to carry on any work for any great length of
time, and the six years at Gravesend passed very quickly. In 1871 he
was appointed British representative on the European Commission to
superintend the improvement of the mouth of the Danube, so that it
might be made more navigable for ships. He was engaged in this work for
two years, with his headquarters at Galatz; and the eminent war
correspondent, Archibald Forbes, says that he "found his memory still
green there in the early years of the Russo-Turkish war, fourteen years
after he had exchanged the mosquitoes of the Lower Danube for the not
less venomous insects of the Upper Nile."
Apart from the testimony of Archibald Forbes, we may be quite sure that
he did some good work at Galatz, for it would be difficult to imagine
him doing nothing but the ordinary routine of official duties. He
always discovered an opening of some sort by which he could help his
fellow-creatures, and his active mind and sympathetic nature were, in
the words of Jean Ingelow, always asking the question of those with
whom he came in contact--
"Are there no briers across thy pathway thrust?
Are there no thorns that compass it about?
Nor any stones that thou wilt deign to trust
My hand to gather out?"
The time had now come when he was to be called to a new form of work,
one to which he was to give the best years of his life, and for which
ultimately he was to sacrifice life itself. In the Crimea and in China,
he had shown what he could do as a soldier; at Gravesend he had set a
noble example to the world of what a Christian philanthropist might do
in his spare hours; and now he was to be called to wage war with the
horrors of slavery. We had him in our midst for six years, and we found
no work for him worthy of his abilities; but while we overlooked his
merits, other nations were not so blind. Just as later on the King of
the Belgians was anxious to secure his services which we were allowing
to remain idle, so now Nubar Pasha, the far-sighted minister of Ismail
Khan, Khedive of Egypt, persuaded him to enter the Egyptian service,
and go to Africa as Governor of the Equatorial Provinces.
But before we follow him into the Soudan, it may be well to dwell for a
little on the distinctly religious aspect of his life.
CHAPTER VIII
SIMPLE FAITH[4]
There are few young men who cannot remember having, in their boyhood,
taken a caterpillar and shut it up in a box. Before long the creature
assumed a chrysalis form, and finally developed into a butterfly, with
a completely new power not possessed by the caterpillar. Instead of
only being able to grovel on the ground, the creature in its new
existence is able to soar high into the air. This is one of Nature's
conversions, and is a faint illustration of the spiritual change which
takes place in the human heart, when the natural man becomes a new
creature with new powers. It is customary for some to sneer at the
doctrine of conversion, scorning the idea of a distinctly spiritual
change taking place in the human heart. It would, however, be difficult
to find any other term by which accurately to describe the change that
took place in Gordon's life.
[4] In this and the following chapter, I have, in order to give
Gordon's views, selected quotations from his letters at different
periods of his life, but not always in chronological order. For
want of space a large number of extracts have had to be omitted;
those that are given must be taken as specimens.
Up to a certain period, while he had done well all that he was called
upon to do, and had completely outstripped his peers, showing himself,
in his professional capacity, to be a head and shoulders above his
fellows, there were nevertheless latent powers within him, which had
not yet been called into play. Who can study his life without being
convinced that he had a power with God, in later life, that he did not
possess earlier? Christ said, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men
unto Me." He was lifted up before Gordon's eyes, and there was a
distinctive response to the magnetic influence of the Cross; and, as in
the laws of magnetism, the instrument that has been charged can in its
turn charge metal brought into contact with it, so in the life of
Gordon we see, that not only had the Redeemer a distinct influence on
his whole nature, but that he was himself so charged with Divine love,
that he was able to exert a magnetic influence over others.
Ecclesiastics may fight and wrangle about names and terms; we have to
deal with facts. It matters little by what name we call it, the fact
remains that a distinct spiritual change came over Gordon, leaving him
a man who had power with God. But though the effect of this change in
Gordon's life was most marked, it is not so obvious when it took place.
As a boy and a cadet he was full of animal spirits, and somewhat given
to practical joking; but, though not a religious boy, he never was bad
in the ordinary acceptation of the term. After he had obtained his
commission, before he went out to the Crimea, there were distinct
indications of a feeling after God, and some have affirmed that this
was brought about through the influence of his mother. That good
mothers are blessed by God as the means of conveying spiritual light to
their boys, is a fact so frequently evident, that writers and others
are often led to assume it must always be the case. Now, though Gordon
possessed an excellent mother, of whom he was very fond, and who in
later years became a true Christian, as a matter of fact in early life
she was somewhat worldly. She was always a remarkably clever and
sensible woman, but in the matter of religion she never attempted to
influence her son. Whatever of spiritual good there was in him, was
therefore not due to her. That he had great affection for her is clear,
even if there were no other evidence, from a letter written during her
illness in October 1873, when he was abroad, to his sister, in which
occurs this passage:--
"Kiss my dear mother, and do not fret for me. I have, thank God,
all comfort, peace, and happy reminiscence with the knowledge that
the Comforter is with you all; that He is able, willing, unselfish,
and kind, and that He will keep you all till you reach the land
where the 'sun never sets,' and where you will see Him, and know
why 'Jesus wept' at Lazarus' grave. Feed by the living pastures;
they will fatten you."
A few days later he says:--
"By keeping my watch at your time, I feel enabled to know what you
are doing. It will be a sore trial for you to see my dear mother
leave her worn-out shell, but you will feel that God takes her to
Himself. My dear mother has spent a useful, hard-working life, and
a happy one; it seems as if it is for you she is kept."
Still the truth expressed in the following lines applied to Gordon's
case:--
"They talk about a woman's sphere,
As though it had no limit.
There's not a place in earth or heaven,
There's not a task to mankind given,
There's not a blessing or a woe,
There's not a whispered yes or no,
There's not a life, or death, or birth,
That has a feather's weight of worth,
Without a woman in it."
Writers have too often ignored the influence of an elder sister in the
formation of a man's character. There can be little doubt that even
before Gordon went out to the Crimea, he was indebted to his sister for
much spiritual help, as the following letter, written from Pembroke in
1854, shows:--
"MY DEAR AUGUSTA,--Write another note like the last, when you have
time, as I hope I have turned over a new leaf, and I should like
you to give me some hope of being received.
"... I got your very kind letter to-day, and am very much obliged
to you for it. I have not had time to look out the texts, but will
do so to-morrow. I am lucky in having a very religious captain of
the 11th, of the name of Drew; he has on the mantelpiece of his
room the 'Priceless Diamond,' which I read before yours arrived. I
intend sending to you, as soon as possible, a book called 'The
Remains of the Rev. R. M'Cheyne,' which I am sure you will be
delighted with. I told Drew to go to Mr. Molyneux; and he did so,
and of course was highly pleased. I cannot write much in favour of
our pastor; he is a worldly man, and does not live up to his
preaching; but I have got Scott's 'Commentaries.' I remember well
when you used to get them in numbers, and I used to laugh at them;
but, thank God, it is different with me now. I feel much happier
and more contented than I used to do. I did not like Pembroke, but
now I would not wish for any prettier place. I have got a horse and
gig, and Drew and myself drive all about the country. I hope my
dear father and mother think of eternal things. Can I do or say
anything to either to do good? When you get my book, read the
'Castaway.'
"You know I never was confirmed. When I was a cadet, I thought it
was a useless sin, as I did not intend to alter (not that it was in
my power to be converted when _I_ chose). I, however, took my first
sacrament on Easter day [16th April 1854], and have communed ever
since.
"I am sure I do not wonder at the time you spent in your room, and
the eagerness with which you catch at useful books--no novels or
worldly books come up to the Sermons of M'Cheyne or the
Commentaries of Scott. I am a great deal in the air, as my fort is
nine miles off, and I have to go down pretty often. It is a great
blessing for me that in my profession I can be intimate with whom I
like, and have not the same trials among my brother officers as
those in a line regiment have. I ought not to say this, for 'where
sin aboundeth, grace aboundeth more fully;' but I am such a
miserable wretch, that I should be sure to be led away. Dearest
Augusta, pray for me, I beg of you."
For several years after the date of the above letter, he alludes very
little to religion, and if we may accept his own statement on the
subject, in a letter from China, dated Taku Forts, 15th March 1862, it
is probable that he went back for a time.
"The climate, work, and everything here suits me, and I am thankful
to say I am happy both in mind and body. I have had a slight attack
of small-pox--it is not necessary to tell my mother this, as it
will trouble her. I am glad to say that this disease has brought me
back to my Saviour, and I trust in future to be a better Christian
than I have been hitherto."
Then followed the stirring adventures he went through in command of the
Ever-Victorious Army in China; but that he could not, during that
period, have had the full assurance which characterised him later on,
and which arises from the witness of the Holy Spirit, is evident from
the fact that he once remarked to his aunt, Miss Enderby, that he could
not make out how it was that he had feared death so little, when all
the time he did not know that he was prepared to die.
On the 19th September 1865, his father passed away a few months after
he had taken up his appointment at Gravesend. This event seems to have
marked an important crisis in his spiritual life. He shut himself up in
complete retirement for a few days, and emerged a very different man
from what he had been before. From that time to the day of his death,
he was known as an out-and-out Christian. During the previous ten years
it is clear, from his letters, that he was in the highest and truest
sense a child of God, but there seems to have been something wanting in
his character. From the time of his father's death, he seems to have
had such a firm assurance in Christ, that religion was the prevailing
element of his life.
It is interesting to note that Gordon dedicated himself to the service
of God not only in the full vigour of health and strength, but at a
time when he might have been, had he chosen, one of the world's
favourites. In the case of some, broken health, advancing age, or
disappointed hopes and ambitions, are the causes that lead to a search
for something more lasting than this world can offer. Thankful as we
may be when any man yields to the higher claims of his Heavenly Father,
whatever the prompting cause may be, it is satisfactory to be able to
record an instance in which apparently none but the highest motives
were at work. Gordon at the time of his father's death was only
thirty-two years of age, and though young, he had done deeds of heroism
which might make many a Victoria Cross hero envy his opportunity and
courage. He had seen what the world had to offer, and he decided that
there was a nobler life to be led. To that new life he dedicated his
remaining years, and, it need hardly be added, he never regretted the
choice. As late as the 26th March 1881, after he had just recovered
from a severe illness, he remarks: "B---- said, when dying, how glad he
was he had sought God in his time of strength, for when he was sinking
he could not do so, and so I feel."
If we may form any opinion from expressions in his letters, dating from
this time to the day of his death, Gordon's religion brought him that
"peace of mind which passeth all understanding," and which the world
can neither give nor take away. The following are but specimens of many
remarks which he let fall from time to time on this subject:--
"I may say that I have died suddenly over a hundred times; but in
these deaths I have never felt the least doubt of my salvation."
"I would that all had the full assurance of life. It is precisely
because we are despicable and worthless that we are accepted. Till
we throw over that idea that we are better than others, we can
never have that assurance."
Nor must it be thought that the joy and happiness he experienced in
religion arose from any inward sense of self-satisfaction. Never had a
man a humbler estimate of himself than Gordon, but his faith in this
respect took a very healthy form. Instead of morbidly looking into his
own heart for evidences of his union with Christ, he ever kept his eye
on the precious work of his Saviour for him. Space will not permit many
quotations from his writings, so the two following must suffice. The
one was written soon after his conversion, the other near the end of
his life.
"_May 3, 1867._--We are _born_ corrupt, and, if the devil had his
way, we should be kept in ignorance of it; our permitted
transgressions show us our state; it is the root that is evil, and
evil must be its emanations, yet we feel much more oppressed by the
outward sin than by the inward corruption."
"_May 7, 1883._--Give me a ream of foolscap and I will sign it: it
may be filled with my demerits and unworthiness, which I agree to;
but my so doing is a proof of how much I accept the free gift of
God. Unless our Lord's sufferings were in vain, it is just that
sheet of demerits that I have signed which gives me my right to
Him; had I a clean sheet I should have no right to Him."
Gordon's, however, was not a faith which contents its possessor merely
with a sense of the forgiveness of sins. That he possessed this happy
assurance, is evident. But no sooner had he entered into possession of
some of his privileges as a child of God, than he pressed on to obtain
more spiritual advantages. The indwelling of God in his heart was a
truth to which he attached much importance, and the following extracts
are but specimens of much that might be quoted showing that he held the
same truth from a period very soon after his father's death to the year
which preceded his own death.
"_July 31, 1867._--I have had very nice thoughts on 1 John iv.
13--'Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him, and he in God.' I think it is the key to much of
the Scripture. I am more than ever convinced that the secret of
happiness and holiness is in the indwelling of God. The same truth
is shown in many other verses, but the above, to my mind, shows it
more clearly. Let a man seek the teaching of the Holy Spirit on
such verses, and he will grow much in grace. As we believe _that_
text, so we shall realise the presence of God in our hearts, and,
having Him there, we have as a sequence holiness and love. He alone
can make us believe the truth and keep it in mind."
_"March 15, 1882._--It had struck me before, in 1865, that the
ordinary Christian life of _non-assurance_ was not a sufficient
gain to have come from Christ's incarnation and death; then I
learnt _assurance_, then followed the knowledge of His indwelling,
then the solution in my mind of the problem of the safety of
others; and then I halted, having given up the thought that in this
life it was possible to regenerate the body, putting down its
failings as venial and connected with our human infirmities. In
time it came to me that surely some growth, some improvement, ought
to be made, some increased sanctification ought to be expected,
one ought not to be so very barren; glimpses of selfishness,
self-seeking pride, and a certain weariness of one's _châteaux
d'Espagne_ came to me, and led to this--Christ dwelleth in us, and
His light enlightens all dark places."
He held very strongly the teaching of the Apostle in Rom. vii., that we
have two natures contending for the mastery, the one good and the other
evil. Writing to his sister he says:--
"We are torn in twain by our two natures, namely, our own judgment
and our faith, and the result must be inconsistent work. How can it
be otherwise? In appearance the Bible is inconsistent, and so must
we be who fulfil it. The only consolation is to fall back on the
text, 'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto
thine own understanding.'"
And again on the 6th October 1878:--
"You cannot evade it: we are each composed of two beings--one of
which we see, which is temporal, which will fulfil certain works in
the world; and one unseen, eternal, and which is always in
conformity with God. One is sometimes uppermost, sometimes subdued,
but rules in the long run, for it is eternal, while the other is
temporal."
Gordon was a remarkable instance of the truth of the text, "The people
that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits," a truth which
is as applicable to individuals as it is to nations. Gifted by nature
with a strong character, its strength was greatly developed by the way
in which he came into personal contact with God in the study of His
Word. He yielded no slavish subservience to any Church or priest,
however good, but tested all doctrines by the unerring standard of
God's truth. "Take the Holy Spirit," he used to say, "for your teacher,
and you will never want another word from man on questions of
doctrine." He never shrank from facing difficulties, or new theories,
as some do who are not quite sure of the ground on which they stand,
but would ask all who propounded novel doctrines for chapter and verse
for their authority. When difficulties arose, he used to treat them as
that great scholar, the late Dean Alford did, as shown in the following
words: "I find difficulties in the Bible as well as others, but I am so
convinced of the general truth of that sacred volume as a whole, that I
can easily afford to suspend my judgment on those matters which for
some purpose perhaps God has not permitted me to understand."
The Bible was to Gordon a living oracle, to which he used to apply at
all times. Here are extracts from two of his letters showing how he
regarded it:--
"Out of commiseration for our dual condition, God _has_ given us an
oracle which will answer any question, advise, instruct, and guide
us; now this oracle must be His voice, for, if not, it would not be
His word. He has in His infinite wisdom incarnated His voice in the
Scriptures; His voice is to be understood by the highest or lowest
intellect; it gives answers, &c., through all time. To the carnal
man it is an ordinary book, to the spiritual man it is alive and
makes alive."
"Whether we may apprehend it or not, the Scripture contains the
mind of Christ, and is, when illuminated with the Spirit, as if
Christ was ever talking to us. Now, we should think that if Christ
was ever near to talk with us, _that_ should suffice us, and
consequently, _as I believe that in theory_, I try to realise it in
practice."
Knowing the high value that Gordon placed on the Word of God, we shall
not be surprised to hear that he took intense pains to study the sacred
volume. He incidentally mentions that one page of his Bible had been so
worn by use that he could hardly read the words. The energy and
thoroughness ever evinced in his professional duties, he also practised
in the earnest search for God's truths. He used to apply the text, "In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread," to the soul as well as to
the body, to the living Bread of Life as well as to the bread that
sustains physical life. At one time he devoted a great deal of time to
studying the book of Revelation, although he admitted that it was the
most difficult book in the Bible to understand. He did not profess to
understand it all, but he used to quote that saying of Dr. Mackie's,
"The blessing to be looked for does not come by comprehension, but by
the reading of the revelation God has given us in His Word, Rev. i. 3."
But though he read and studied his Bible as earnestly as he would any
other book, he never forgot the fact that only the Holy Spirit can
teach us the truths contained in it.
"We can see the _history_ of the Bible, and may understand it, but
we forget that we are blind to its secret mysteries, unless God
shows them to us; our Saviour says, 'Unto you it is _given_.' Only
the Spirit _in_ man finds God."
He contended, moreover, that there could be but little benefit from a
mere theoretical study of the Bible, and that consequently the best
school in which to learn the sacred truths it contained was that of the
discipline of life.
"I feel sure that no study without trial is of avail; life must be
lived to learn these truths. I believe, if a man knows his Bible
fairly, and then goes forth into the world, God will show him His
works. The Jews learnt the Scripture by heart, and so I expect our
Saviour did; He therefore had no need to study it. He applied its
teachings to life and its trials."
Nor did Gordon study his Bible only when he was alone, for he was very
fond of reading it in company with those who, like himself, valued it.
Thus Mr. Pearson, of the Church Missionary Society, who was at Nyanza,
gives a brief account of his visit to Khartoum in 1878, and says,
"After the work of the day was finished, Gordon would say, 'Let us have
reading and prayer;' and in that very palace which was, perhaps, the
scene of his death, we used to meet and pray, not separating sometimes
until one in the morning."
Before leaving Gordon and his Bible, it is interesting to note that the
actual copy of the Scriptures which he had for a long period, including
the time of his first visit to Khartoum, is now at Windsor Castle in
the possession of the Queen. The following is the Queen's letter on the
subject:--
"WINDSOR CASTLE, _March 16, 1885_.
"DEAR MISS GORDON,--It is most kind and good of you to give me this
precious Bible, and I only hope that you are not depriving yourself
and family of such a treasure, if you have no other. May I ask you,
during how many years your dear heroic Brother had it with him? I
shall have a case made for it with an inscription, and place it in
the Library here, with your letter and the touching extract from
his last to you. I have ordered, as you know, a Marble Bust of your
dear Brother to be placed in the Corridor here, where so many Busts
and Pictures of our greatest Generals and Statesmen are, and hope
that you will see it before it is finished, to give your opinion as
to the likeness.--Believe me always, yours very sincerely,
"VICTORIA R. I."
It is not a little remarkable that in the history of all eminent
Christians, those who attach great importance to the study of the Word
of God invariably make a point of spending much time at the throne of
grace, waiting on God in prayer. These two means of grace seem to be
almost inseparable, and we seldom find one much in use without the
other. Some people talk about being too busy to spare time for prayer
or study of the Scriptures, but Luther used to say that the more work
he had to do, the more necessary did he find it to hedge-in time during
which he could be alone with God. The more work there is to be done,
the more strength is needed, and therefore the more important is it to
make use of those means which alone can bring strength for work. Few
men get through more work in the course of the year than Gordon did,
but he made a great point of so arranging his work as to enable him to
find time for private communing with God.
When in the Soudan as Governor-General he used to hoist a flag outside
his tent to indicate to outsiders that he was not to be disturbed
except under very urgent circumstances, and that flag became the signal
that the occupant of the tent wanted to be alone with his God, to seek
for guidance[5] and strength, which he felt he needed so much in
conducting the affairs of the province over which he was called to
rule. Like all men who begin by praying much for themselves, his heart
was soon drawn out in prayer for others; and it is evident that he
interceded much for his enemies, as well as for those with whom he was
officially brought into contact. Thus in one letter he says: "I believe
very much in praying for others; it takes away all bitterness towards
them;" and on another occasion:--
[5] It is sometimes said that Gordon used to "toss up" when he
was in any doubt, and that such a step indicates want of faith in
prayer. As a matter of fact, he did appeal two or three times to
lot in this way, and he used to quote Acts i. 26 as a precedent;
but it is not true that he often decided questions thus, nor is
it true that he resorted to an appeal to lot instead of seeking
guidance in prayer. He would pray first, and ask God to indicate
His mind in this modern form of appeal to lot.
"The only remedy with me is to pray for every one who worries me;
it is wonderful what such prayer does. In heaven our Lord
intercedes for us, and He governs heaven and earth. Prayer for
others relieves our own burdens. God turned the captivity of Job
_when he prayed for his friends_, who had been as thorns in his
side. I feel strongly that the grace God gave me to pray for my
enemies in the Soudan led to my success, though I certainly used
the sword of Cæsar on them."
Those who are opposed to the doctrine that salvation is not to be
obtained by human merit, but by simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
sometimes assert that the Gospel teaches people to be selfish, by
thinking first of their own salvation. As a matter of fact, the most
active Christians are those who hold this doctrine; and never has the
Church of our country been so fruitful of good works, as when her
children have been careful to make it clear that salvation is not to be
obtained by them. It is not selfishness for a man to think of his own
soul first, when he knows that he cannot do much good to others till
its salvation is assured. The happy combination between a natural
unselfishness, and a newly developed love for the temporal and
spiritual welfare of his fellow-creatures, had very blessed results in
Gordon's case. No sooner was he thoroughly convinced of the importance
of religion, than his unselfish nature exhibited itself in a marvellous
development of the missionary spirit at home and abroad. When Gordon
secured anything good, his unselfish nature at once prompted him to let
others share it. It is sometimes supposed that only men of strong faith
are in earnest about the propagation of their faith, but this is not
altogether a correct way of stating a fact. The young man who makes
good use of the muscular power given to him by Nature acquires greater
strength, whereas he who fails to do so finds that he has to pay the
penalty of his neglect in having his muscles grow flabby and feeble.
And so it is with faith. The unselfish man who starts with a weak
faith, but is determined to let others derive as much benefit as
possible, finds his faith growing stronger and stronger, as he
continues to witness evidences of the influence of that faith on
others. Had Gordon, like one in the parable, wrapt his faith up in a
napkin, instead of making good use of it by putting it out to usury, he
might never have acquired the strong faith which so characterised him.
As it was, he not only to the last day of his life had cause to thank
God for the full assurance he enjoyed, but the number of orphans, of
widows, and of others, who derived benefit directly or indirectly from
his faith, will never be known.
There are some to whom one might apply, though in a slightly different
sense, the words of Naaman's servants, "If the prophet had bid thee do
some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it?" While willing to
exercise this faith in the performance of great deeds, they overlook
numerous smaller opportunities of working for their Master, and fail to
do anything because they are always looking out for great
opportunities. The great change in Gordon's life took place at
Gravesend, and it was there he commenced to show that intense longing
to do good to others which characterised him to the end. Nothing was
beneath his notice, nobody too insignificant for him. The gutter
children, and the inmates of the workhouse, might have been passed over
by many in his position who had higher aims. It was not so with Gordon,
and consequently he quickly cultivated the missionary spirit, and soon
reaped a rich harvest, proving the truth of Browning's lines about the
humble-minded man, who finds nothing too insignificant for his
energies:--
"That low man sees a little thing to do,
Sees it and does it:
This high man with a great thing to pursue,
Dies ere he knows it.
That low man goes on adding one to one,
His hundreds soon hit:
This high man aiming at a million
Misses an unit."
Here was a man, who had already made a great name for himself in the
world, and might, had he wished, have been far better known, planning
out for himself a future career, the main object of which was to spread
abroad a knowledge of those spiritual truths which had so greatly
benefited him, and that not by the formation of some great society,
some splendid organisation, but by simply putting himself into touch
with some of the humble city missionaries, and, through their
instrumentality, getting at the poor. Witness these two passages from
his letters:--
"_January 8, 1881._--I hope, D.V., to put myself in communication
with some of our Scripture-reader people, and shall try and visit
Christ, who is in the East end in the flesh (Matthew xxv. 34). I
feel this is what I shall like; these truths were not given to make
a man idle."
"_September 24, 1881._--I have been down for two Sundays to meet a
lot of Chinese, and have spoken to them as well as I could. I have
not yet touched on Jesus and His sacrifice, but spoke of God's
indwelling. It was satisfactory, and they were pleased."
It is also interesting to note how, from time to time, he kept on
reproaching himself for not being more alive to his responsibilities,
and making better use of his opportunities to do good. He even seemed
to begrudge himself the few months' holiday he spent in Palestine
recruiting his health and energies. Writing on August 14, 1882, he
says:--
"Fancy, since I left Mauritius, with the exception of twenty-nine
days on board ship, I have been living at hotels, and, I may say,
have not talked of the pearls to more than a dozen people."
And again from Palestine he wrote:--
"You know I do not like idleness; I want to get to a place where I
can find sick people to visit, feeling sure that is the necessary
work for me; I think He will direct me, so I seek no advice
elsewhere. I leave it to God, to decide in His time. I do not like
the ways of the polished world, and my dislike has increased during
the time I have been here."
However much Gordon might reproach himself, it must not for one moment
be supposed that, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, there was
any cause for it. He was in truth a most indefatigable worker, and no
matter how hard his official work was, he always seemed to find time to
do something for his Master. A case in point is the time he spent in
South Africa, when it is difficult to understand how he got through all
the official work he managed to compress into his brief sojourn. Yet we
find that the herculean task of reorganising the colonial army was not
the only thing that occupied his attention, for on the 12th August 1882
he writes to his sister:--
"How odd, those leaflets[6] being in Dutch, and my wanting them,
and your sending them just as I am about to go up to the Free
State, when, as in the 'Auld time long ago,' I shall be dropping
them along the road near the Boer towns. What hundreds I did give
away; how I used to run miles, if I saw a scuttler (boy) watching
crows in a field! If I, or any one else, went now to Gravesend and
dropped them, how quickly men, now grown up, would remember that
time. Send me the whole lot out unless you want them, I mean of all
languages; it is the loveliest leaflet I ever saw, and it still
looks fresh."
[6] This leaflet consists principally of a few choice and
carefully selected passages of Scripture, and shows how intensely
he valued the _ipsissima verba_ of God's own word, as a means of
reaching the human heart.
Francis de Sales, an eminent saint of the Roman Catholic Church, when a
famine was prevailing, and he wanted to preach in a certain village,
purchased twelve waggons and packed them with bread. He sent the
waggons forward one at a time, going on the last one himself. "For,"
said he, "we must get at the poor through their physical natures. They
will be the more willing to receive our message for their souls when
they see that we care about their bodies." Gordon used to act on the
same principle, and made a great point of caring for the physical wants
of any he found in trouble. It would be difficult to enumerate all the
instances of this to which publicity has been given, but a few cases
may suffice. One lad who exhibited consumptive tendencies he sent at
his own expense to Margate. The boy recovered, grew up to be a man, and
christened his eldest son "Gordon," in memory of one who, he used to
say, had "saved both his body and soul." Another story is told of a
case in which Gordon handed over a dirty little urchin to one of his
lady friends, with the remark, "I want to make you a present of a boy."
Under good influences the lad grew up until he became a respectable
member of society. Years after, when he was earning good wages at sea,
and was about to be married, he fell from the topmast of his vessel,
and was conveyed to the Gravesend Infirmary with a fractured skull. In
his last moments, however, he did not forget his benefactor, and, in
trembling tones, asked his adopted mother to tell the Colonel how he
valued the truth contained in that beautiful hymn he had taught him,
"Jesus, Lover of my soul." The same writer mentions also the history of
a boy called Albert who, through Gordon's kindness, was apprenticed to
a tradesman at Gravesend. Subsequently the lad went into a business
house at Southampton, where he was placed in a department which he did
not understand. Fearing that his services would be dispensed with, he
communicated with his friends, and they, in turn, wrote to General
Gordon, who happened to be staying in Southampton at his sister's
house. Without loss of time the General called on "Little Albert," whom
he scarcely recognised in the youth of six feet two inches who
presented himself, and had a consultation with his employer. The result
was that the young man was retained in his situation, and placed in a
department with which he was well acquainted.
It is by no means uncommon to find that those who are eager about the
spread of spiritual truths among professing Christians, are also keenly
alive to the importance of mission work among non-Christian people.
Gordon was a remarkable instance of this happy combination. The chapter
that deals with his life in Palestine gives an insight into this part
of his character, but a few words will not be out of place here to show
his opinion on this subject in other countries. He had a very high
ideal of what a missionary should be, and a supreme contempt for bad
missionaries. He was on the whole fortunate in the class of men he came
across in Palestine, the Soudan, and South Africa. In the first of
these two places the missionaries belonged to the Church Missionary
Society, an organisation with which he was much in sympathy. But he
also met men of other societies, and his large-hearted sympathies went
out to them too. He was a great admirer of Livingstone, and spoke of
him with much respect and affection. The spirit of heroism which has
characterised so many of our missionaries attracted him greatly. "Do
not send lukewarms," he once wrote to Mr. Wright, the Honorary
Secretary of the Church Missionary Society; and one of the first things
he did at Gravesend was to support the Moravian Missions by becoming
their local treasurer. Later on in Africa he writes, "How refreshing it
is to hear of the missionary efforts made in these countries."
We may not quite agree with all that Gordon said on the subject of
foreign missions, and some may think that the standard he set up was
too high for frail human nature to aim at. Moreover, recent events in
Uganda, and elsewhere, may have shown us that good work can be done by
men who fall far short of Gordon's standard. Nevertheless, we cannot
but feel that he was himself, in the truest sense of the word, a
missionary, and that the Earl of Harrowby did not at all exaggerate the
truth when he said about Gordon, after his death:--
"I believe that one effect of that man's example was to lift up a
noble standard for the cross in a way that no professional
missionary could have lifted it up, and to oblige devotees of
pleasure and people who had thought but little of such things to
acknowledge the power of the Gospel. Many who saw him and spoke to
him could not understand him. It was to them a marvellous sight to
witness, and I feel that we can hardly be grateful enough to that
great man for the infinite benefits which he has bestowed upon us
as friends of missions."
Apart from any direct work that he did to advance the cause of
missions, an illustration has recently been given us in _The Jewish
Intelligencer_, showing what an influence his life had on Mohammedans
and others with whom he came in contact. The writer describes a
conversation he had with a shereef from Mecca, a man who was held in
the greatest veneration by all loyal Mohammedans. He was a
well-informed man, and had travelled much. In speaking of Gordon, he
said: "Oh! the English lost a great man, it is true, but the unhappy
Mussulmans have lost in him a benefactor, a father, and a servant of
the true God. Before I knew him I hated the Christians, but Gordon has
taught me to love them; and I see more clearly every day that a
religion which makes such heroic, faithful, and disinterested men, can
only be a religion coming from the true God." And, believe me, the
whole Mohammedan world has felt, and still feels every day, the loss of
the noble defender of Khartoum.
CHAPTER IX
HIS CATHOLICITY
So many Churches and parties have laid claim to Gordon's patronage, and
such extraordinary views have been attributed to him on religious
subjects, that it may not be out of place to say something on the
point. His mind was very comprehensive, and his whole nature
sympathetic, consequently many, differing widely from each other, have
regarded him as an ally of their own cause. When he became Private
Secretary to Lord Ripon, on the appointment of the latter, who is a
Roman Catholic, as Governor-General of India, it was stated in some of
the Indian papers that the new Viceroy had been urged by Mr. Gladstone
to accept a Baptist as his Private Secretary, in order to conciliate
the Nonconformist and Protestant element in England. There was not a
word of truth in the statement. The Baptist Church has possessed some
very eminent men, such as Sir Henry Havelock, Dr. Carey, Dr. Judson,
Dr. Angus, and Mr. Spurgeon, but General Gordon was not one of their
number. He was baptized as a member of the Church of England, and
though he was never confirmed, yet he lived and died a communicant of
that body. In many ways he was a thorough type of that catholic
generous class of Churchmen, so characteristic of our National Church,
which, taking a large-hearted view of Church membership, recognises all
that is good, noble, and pure in other systems, and is not afraid of
losing caste by associating with Nonconformists. Nor would it be fair
to say that his catholicity developed only in the direction of the
Nonconformists, for no man ever tried more than he to see good in other
systems of religion, such as the Roman Catholic and Greek Churches, and
even Mohammedanism. He had a remarkably open mind, and was always
anxious to distinguish between persons and principles. He fully
recognised the errors of certain religious systems, but this did not in
the least interfere with his recognition of good in the individuals who
adhered to them. The catholicity of his own views may be gathered from
the following extracts made from his letters at different times:--
"I do not think much of getting help from only one particular set
of men; I will take Divine aid from any of those who may be
dispensing it, whether High Church, Low Church, Greek Church, or
Roman Catholic Church; each meal shall be, by God's grace, my
sacrament."
"I would wish to avoid laying down the law: you may look at a plate
and see it is round; I look at it, and see it is square; if you are
happy in your view, keep it, and I keep mine; one day we shall both
see the truth. I say this, because we often are inclined to find
fault with those who do not think as we do, 'who do not follow
_us_.' Why trouble others and disturb their minds on matters which
we see only dimly ourselves? At the same time I own to repugnance
to the general conversation of the world and of some religious
people; there is a sort of 'I am holier than thou' in their words
which I do not like, therefore I prefer those subjects where such
discussions do not enter."
"Join no sect, though there may be truth in all. Be of the true
army of Christ, wear His uniform, _Love_: 'By this, and by no other
sign, shall men know that ye are My disciples.'"
If we may judge of a man by his friends and his books, few can surpass
General Gordon in catholicity. He used to say that he learned certain
truths from certain individuals. Thus, from the writings of an eminent
Plymouth Brother, C. H. Mackintosh, he learnt the doctrine of the two
natures within himself, and from a Mr. Jukes he learnt the lesson of
the crucifixion of the flesh. "Mr. Mylne," he used to say, "taught me
the importance of intercessory prayer, and Colonel Travers taught me
the importance of bringing forth the fruit of the Spirit." He valued
also Bishop Pearson's work on the Creed, and the standard work on the
Thirty-nine Articles by the lately-retired Bishop of Winchester. "The
Imitation of Christ," by Thomas à Kempis, was a favourite book, and one
which he gave away largely. "Christ's Mystical," by Hall, and "The Deep
Things of God," by Hill, were also much valued, and given away to his
friends, as well as Clark's "Scripture Promises," and Wilson on
"Contentment." He was an admirer of the eminent preacher Charles H.
Spurgeon, about whom he says:--
"I found six or seven sermons of Spurgeon in the hotel, and read
them. I like him; he is very earnest; he says: 'I believe that not
a worm is picked up by a bird without direct intervention of God,
yet I believe entirely in man's free will; but I cannot and do not
pretend to reconcile the two.' He says he reads the paper to see
what God is doing and what are His designs. I confess I have now
much the same feeling; nothing shocks me but myself."
He was personally very fond of the late Bishop of Lincoln, Dr.
Christopher Wordsworth, describing him as "imbued with the indwelling
of God; only one fault--he is hard on the Roman Catholics." The last
phrase gives a good insight into the working of Gordon's mind. Romish
Catholicism, as a religious system, was about as opposed as anything
could be to his own views, which were all in favour of comprehensiveness,
and a large display of individuality. But though he had no sympathy
with the narrow exclusiveness of that ecclesiastical survival of the
dark middle ages--the Roman system--he had the greatest sympathy with
earnest individuals, who in spite of their system possessed the Spirit
of Christ. He had many sincere friends who were members of the Church
of Rome, and he used to remark that some of them set a noble example of
devotion to many Protestants, who did not act up to their own
principles. Writing on the 5th January 1878, he says:--
"Why does the Romish Church thrive with so many errors in it? It is
because of those godly men in her who live Christ's life, and who,
like as Zoar was spared for Lot's sake, bring a blessing on the
whole community. For self-devotion, for self-denial, the Roman
Catholic Church is in advance of our present-day Protestantism.
What is it if you know the sound truths and do not act up to them?
Actions speak loudly and are read of all; words are as the breath
of man."
But in spite of his large-hearted toleration he had no hesitation in
speaking out against the tendency of Romanism which unduly exaggerates
the position of the priests, and puts the laity into a subservient
position with regard to them. Writing from Khartoum with regard to the
Abyssinians, he says:--
"The excommunication of the priests is the great weapon--it is
terrible; far worse than, or quite as bad as, that of the
Inquisition. It amuses me to hear the Catholic priests here
[Khartoum] complain of it, and say that the priests want to keep
the people ignorant, so as to rule them. Is it not what _they_
would do elsewhere, if they could?"
It may be supposed by some that General Gordon was a member of what is
known as the Evangelical party in the Church of England, but though he
held perhaps more in common with that party than with any other, it
would be inaccurate to say that he belonged to it. Religious party
views are always rather difficult to describe, and it will be found
that in every party there are some whose minds do not run on partisan
lines. An eminent bishop was once asked to define the three parties of
the National Church, and he replied, that the High Churchman always
asked what the Church taught, the Broad Churchman could be
distinguished by his asking what reason taught, and the Evangelical was
known by his asking what the Bible taught. If such a rough-and-ready
system of classification be applied to General Gordon, there can be no
question that his loyalty to the Bible would stamp him at once. In
addition, however, to this characteristic, which was the most prominent
one in his life, he held in common with the Evangelicals, and far more
strongly than the majority of them, the doctrine of Election, and the
wise policy of cultivating friendly relations with Nonconformists, to
whose places of worship he frequently went, as also the doctrine of
personal assurance, and that of the utter depravity of human nature.
But Gordon was not of a type of mind that can ever go completely with a
party. He had such a strong individuality, that it would have been
impossible for him to do as many do--sink his own views on questions
not of vital importance, so as to be enabled to work with the party
with which he was most in accord. He was nothing, if not original and
genuine; he sought the truth for himself, and would not receive
stereotyped views of religion where he did not see that they were in
harmony with the Bible.
"He that cannot think is a fool,
He that will not is a bigot,
He that dares not is a slave."
His fearlessness in the search for truth made him frequently touch on
subjects on which his own mind was not fully made up. The fate of those
who had not accepted Christ as their Saviour was one of these points.
Though he frequently spoke of his own salvation, through the merits of
Christ, he believed that God had provided some means of saving those
who had never had opportunities of hearing of Christ, but he never
dogmatised on what those means were. Referring to his Mohammedan
secretary, Berzati Bey, he writes on the 12th April 1881:--
"He will ever be one of those who have taught me the great lesson,
that in all nations and in all climes there are those who are
perfect gentlemen, and who, though they may not be called
Christians, are so in spirit and in truth. They may not see how
Christ is their Saviour, but they die with a sense that all their
efforts are useless, and with the conviction that unless God
provides some way of satisfying His justice, they have no hope."
The fate of the heathen who are suffering, not from any personal
rejection of true religion, but on account of the sins of some distant
ancestors who forsook the worship of the true God, is a mysterious
subject, and one on which true Christians have differed. The most that
any of us can do is to take comfort in the conviction that--
"The love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind."
It must not, however, be thought, because Gordon held that the
ignorance of the heathen was no bar to their salvation, that he in any
way undervalued the benefits of the Christian faith. Again and again,
in view of his being asked to become a Mohammedan in order to save his
life, he says in substance what he wrote on September 10, 1884, when
Khartoum was surrounded with bigoted Mahdists: "If the Christian faith
is a myth, then let men throw it off; but it is mean and dishonourable
to do so merely to save one's life, if one believes it is the true
faith."
He also believed that heathen magicians had influence with God. Writing
to his sister shortly after a repulse that his men received from some
natives near Moogie, in the Equatorial Province, he says: "Did I not
mention the incantations made against us by the magicians on the other
side, and how somehow, from the earnestness that they made them with, I
had some thought of misgiving on account of them? These prayers were
earnest prayers for celestial aid, in which the Pray-er knew he would
need help from some unknown power to avert a danger. That the native
knows not the true God is true; but God knows him, and moved him to
pray, and answered his prayer."
But while General Gordon held much in common with the liberal
Evangelicals, there was one point on which he differed from them very
strongly, and on which he was more in sympathy with the Broad Church
party in the National Church, or those amongst the Nonconformists known
as the Down Grade party; this was the doctrine known as Universalism.
Whether we agree with him or not, we must in honesty recognise the fact
that Gordon held a modified form of the doctrine that there is no such
thing as future punishment. Writing on the 13th October 1878 he gives
his views thus:--
"I look on universal salvation for every human being, past,
present, or future, as certain, and, as I hope for my own, no doubt
comes into my mind on this subject. Is it credible that so _many_
would wish it to be otherwise, and fight you about it? And among
those _many_ are numbers, whose lives, weighed truly as to their
merits by the scale of the sanctuary, would kick the beam _against_
those _they_ condemn.
"Once I did believe that some perished altogether at the end of the
world--were annihilated, as having no souls. After this, I believed
that the world was made up of incarnated children of God and
incarnated children of the evil spirit; and then I came to the
belief that _the two are in
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