The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-17

country around Shanghai, GOrdons experience
Of the Chnese--for at Tientsin he had employed
his spare time in studying the character and
country of the people-was called into requisi-
ton for the purpose of 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 of
the Grand canal, he zealously devoted himself to
the task of personally surveying the whole coun-
try for a distance of thirty miles around Shang-
hal This thorOughness showed the character OF
the man, and he attributed to the Typographical
knowledge thus acquired his subsequent success
when employed in the Emperors name against
the bands of the Nankin faction.
The necessities Of the Chinese government
compelled it to have recourse to foreign allies;
but, although the services of a few American adj
venturers were obtained, neither their exploits
nor their character promised a speedy issue
from the dangerous situation into which the
young Emperor's authority had been brought.
The climax was reached when Burgevine VIC
lently appropriated for his purposes the
sum of $40 GOO, and was dismissed from the Chi
nese service in consequence 1t was then
that the Chinese applied to the English gen
elal to nominate trustworthy officer for the
command of the fOreign-drilled contingent, and
General Staveley named Captain Gordon then
not more than thirty years of age. The man
ner in which he led the sOcalled lever Veto
rlOus army from success to another,
until he had cleared the province of Kiangsu
and the course of the Grand canal of
the presence of the TAPPING rebels, is almost
thricetold tale; but still Mr. Hake has succeeded
i'll 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 Vigor had
arisen in consequence of the defeat of Colonel
Holland in an attack ON Taitsan. The Taipings
were naturally very jubilant over their success
and affected for a time to entertain contempt
for the prowess of the Europeans. They
thought they could take Nankin, and they have
failed before Taitsan.' Such their boast
ND coll ,,.,i,.
the blunders and misfortunes of his pre-
decessors. He soon justified the ex-
pectations of those who had followed
his career by capturing both Fushan
and Taltsan. Other successes rapidly followed
His force was dressed in semi European uni
FORM and the men wore boots Such the
terror produced by their presence that the Man
daIins awaited themselves of ruse in order to
spread belief that they were more numerous
than they were. The TaOtai of Shanghai pur
chased some thousand pairs Of European boots,
which he distributed so that 1.-The marks of Cor
dons soldiers might be everywhere visible" We
must make room for the following quotation,
showing how Gordon obtained his extraordinary
influence over the Chinese, and his not less re
markable hold on the adventures from all coun-
tries arrayed under his flag
I'm almost all these engagements Gordon
found it necessary to be constantly in the front,
and often to lead in person. The officers of his
force were brave men enough, but were not al
ways ready to face their desperate antagonists.
Gordon, in his mild way, would take one or
other of these by the arm and lead him into the
thick of the fire He always went unarmed
himself, even when foremost in the breach. He
never recognized danger; to him a shower of
bullets was no more than hastOrm. EIe car
ried one weapon to direct his troops-he had but
a little cane, and this soon won for itself the
name of 'Gordon's magic wand of victory His
Chinese followers. seeing him always victorious,
always foremost in the fight, concluded that it
was his wand that insured him protection. The
idea encouraged the every victorious army great
ly, and was of more service to the young com
mander than all the arms he could have borne
Gordon left China in 1864, and returned to
England. He was still only a captain of en-
gineers. Yet he had led several thousand men
with consumInate skill, and it was not denied that
he had won great victories. Having thus out
stripped all laws of seniority, having commanded
armies and saved an empire when he should ac-
cording to rule, have been still engaged in mas
terng the intricacies of fertilization it necesSari
ly followed that it was not an easy matter to
provide him with suitable work on his return.
With the best possible intentions the young hero
was given a consular appointment on the Dan
ube whence he was summoned in 1874 to Egypt
by the late Khedive The task assigned
to him was in some respects more difficult
than that intrusted to him in China,
for whereas in the far East he had only to van
quish an enemy whose forces were revealed he
had to deal in the Soudan with difficulties which
were only partially known, while he had to rec
oncle well as he could instructions that were
incompatible with the facts of the position. 1t
was to his credit that, working on a reduced pay
and without any desire for fame, he devoted all
his powers to the performance of his work. and
constituting himself the champion of distressed
humanity, spared no effort to put an end to the
suffering and infamous lot of the dark-skinned
races over whom he was called to exercise au-
thority. During five years he toiled in this
cause with unfagging zeal, and when he re-
signed the powers with which the Khedive had
intrusted him it was admitted that he had not
merely put a stop to the worst evils
of the traffic in slaves, but. that
he had prepared the way for. the
emancipation of the Soudanese in 1889, should
the Egyptian government of that day possess the
forces and the win to make good its bond. So
far as his career has yet run, Chinese Gordon,
who is major general in the Royal Engineers,
will be remembered for two episodes, the
TAPPING rebellion and the governorship of the
Soudan His biographer shows that his private
life has been a counterpart of his public career.
Devotion to duty has been his motto through
out, and if his extreme dislike to be praised, and
his over-anxiety to hide himself and his actions
from the world have been sometimes misunder
stood, they are the natural accomplishments of
his simple but lofty character The age of
heroes has long gone by, but so long as Chinese
Gordon is with us there will he living type of
the qualities which were and always must be,
heroic.