, 1884-02-02

general in the artillery {; his elder brothers
had preceded him in the profession of
arms. 1t was the most natural arrange
mpnt that he himself should be entered at
Woolwich for the Royal Engineers. At
WoolwiclI he was not considered in his
studies Il promising candidate. Once, Mr..
Hake tells us, lie was rebuked for incOm-
Dptrnce, and ''t0ld that he would never
make an officer; whereupon he tore the
ppaulpts from his shoulders, and flung
them at his Superi0rS feet" He obtained
his commission none the less, and i'll 1853
proceeded to The Crimea, where he served
several months in the trenches, and OBJ
tanned the reputation Of being the quick
est man to detect the plans and movements
OF the Russians. After the close of the
war he WAS employed on the frontier com
missions in Bensarahia and Armenia,
where his talent as II draughtsman stood
him i'm such good stead that all his appli-
cations for leave to return home We're dis
tinctly refused at the Horse Guards. In
the year 1860 the difficulty with China had
assumed a serious form owing to the re
pulse of Admiral Hopes attack on the
Taku forts, aud a large Anglo French px-
pedition was sent to the Peih0 for the pur-
pose Of bringing the Chinese Government
to reason. Before Gordon reached China
the Taku forts had been attacked a second
time and captured; but he was engaged
in all the later operations, which terminal
ed with the occupation of Pekin and the
destruction of the Summer Palace. When
the TaipingS became more active in the
county round han hai, GordOn'S expert
encp OF The Chinese for at TientSin he had
employed hisSparc time in Studyingthechar-
acter OF The country and OF the peOple-waS
" 81 80, p4n- El~ AAtN- ~
clearing The district round that great place
Of trade Of the insurgents. His measures
were completely successful, and when he
had driven The Taipings back to the line
oftln Grand Canal he zeal0uSly devoted
himself t The task of personally survey
ing he whole country for a distance Of 80
miles round Shanghai. This thorOughness
showed the character Of the man, and he
attributed to HE Typographical knowledge
thus acquj.cd, his subsequent success
when employed in the Emppror'S name
against the bands Of the Naukin faction.
The ntcrSsilit les of the Chinese Govern
mtnt compelled it TO have recourse to
foreign allies, but although the services OF
a few Ameri' an adyemtulerS were obtain.
ed, neither their exploits nor their charac-
ter promised a speedy issue from the dan
grruuS situation into which the young En-
ptro'a authority had been brought. The
climax was reached when Burgevine VIC
lently appropriated for his own purposes
the sam OF 10000 dollars, and was dismiss
Cd lh, Chinese service in Consequences. 1t
was thea that lhe Chinese applied to the
English general to nominate II trnStwOr-
thy officer for tdp command of the foreign
drilled contingent, and General Stavely
named Captain Gordon, then not more
4IA, On ~, nF n,rA VnA IOOnJhr IN
which he led the SO-cdlled sever. victorious
army" from one success to another, until
he had cleared the province of hiangSu
and the course of the Grand Canal OF the
presence OF The TAPPING rebels, is almost a
thrice-told tale; but still Mr.. Hake has
succeeded in imparting freshness to a
record of military achievements which IN
their way were and still are unique. When
Gordon assumed The command of the force
a necessity for greater vigour had arisen
i'm ~onStquenc Of the defeat Of Colonel
Holland in an attack on laltSan. The
Taipings were naturally very juhilant over
their success, and aft ctrd for a time to en-
lertain ii contempt for the proweSs OF Eu'
ropeanS. ''IhrY thought they could a
Nankin, and they have failed before lat
sau.n Such WAS their boast when Gordon
was called upon to repair the plumbers ana
misforiuneS of his predecessors. He soon
justified the expectations OF those who had
followed his career by capturing FuShan
and laitSan. Other successes rapidly
followed. His force WAS dressed in a semi
European uniform, and the men wore boots
Such was the terror produced by their
presence thai the Manlarins awaited them.