Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-03-22
OUR LONDON LETTER.
INTERESTING FACTS CcNcERE1Na GEN
ERAL GORDON.
His Services and Exploits in china-Dis
regard for wealth-His Religious
Eature-Recent Crders-Ltc

IN that country lie General Gordon. Sent
put, with a single attendant, to pacify re-
bellious province as large as England and
France combined. HE commission was,
perhaps. the most extraordinary that a
human being ever undertook. But no
more exceptional was toe task than is the
character of the man. General Gordon is
the most unique parsonage Of the
age. In his makeup there is blending |
of tenderness aud sternness, coursge and |
diffdence, humility and piety, selfconf-
dence and self-abnegation, such as do not |
in more than one man out of a
million. No country but England, and
England as It is to-day, could produce such
a genius, and so peculiarly English are
come elements IN his strange composition
notably the association with his secular
duties of those thoughts and motives which
link man in close affinity to the Supreme
Being-that the people of some other ma
tionalities will fad 1t difficult to either APP
preciate or understand him. Just now he
is puzzle to even his own admiring coun-
trymen, the English people being no less
amazed at his recent proclamation, which
seems to tolerate slavery in the Soudan,
than they were charmed and dazzled few
weeks ago by his
SUBLIME COURAGE AND WONDERFUL FAITH,
For an envoy Of Great Britain to en-
deavor to make peace with rebels by prom
Using them free traffic in human flesh is
indeed strange proceeding, considering
the battles their country has fought in
recent years, and the laws she has enacted
with the object OF wiping out this evil.
That the nation would condemn and igno-
miniously dismiss from its service any
ordinary man who dared to take such
step, goes without saying. In this case,
however, the apparent transgressor is not
an ordinary man, nor are the cirCum-
stances of an ordinary nature. Hence,
there is q disposition to forbear, to wait,
to suspend Judgment, and hope for the
best, until all the facts are known, and the
General himself has an opportunity of ex
pl aiming the motives, bearings and probable
results Of the course he has taken, Mean
while General Gordon will remain the hero
of the hour, and there will be an ever-in-
creasing desire in all countries for informa
ton throwing light upon his character and
history.
HIS PAST HISTORY.
Descending on both his fathers and
mothers side from fighting antecedents,
Gordon was brought up to the military
profession, first serving with bravery and
distinction in the Crimea. His next expe-
rience OF war was in China. While en-
gagged under the Chinese Emperor in quell-
ing rebellion in one OF the provinces, an
event occurred which brought him into IN.
pleasant conflict with the Chinese Govern.
ment. Gordon imagined himself disgraced
by some slight the Government had shown
him. Usually the only weapon he carried
was stick, which the Chinese called his
" magic wand" but so angered was he at
this offense that he armed himself with q
revolver, and could he then have found Ii
Hung Chang, the official through whom
the slight had come, blood would no doubt
have been shed. The revolver, however,
soon gave way to the less murderous wea-
DOn, and when we next see Gordon the
Imperial Government has sent him money
and orders, and be is driving off the mes.
sengers with his stick. In the end, Ii
Hung Chang wrote q paper to vindicate
himself and exonerate Gordon, but practi-
cally the document was an elaborate apol-
oey to the General. In his Chinese com.
mand frequent cases of mutiny occurred.
In one instance the mutineers sent in their
demands in writing the non-commissioned
officers refusing to tell either why the men
would not fall IN or who wrote the procla.
nation. What followed is related thus
WITH QUIET DETERMINATION
Gordon then told them that one in every
five would be shot, an announcement which
was received with groans, during which
demonstration the Commander, with great
shrewdness, determined in his own mind
that the man whose groans were the most
emphatic and prolonged was the ring
leader. This man was a Corporal. Gordon
approached him, dragged him out OF the
rank with his own hand, and ordered two
OF the infantry standing by to shoot him
on the spot. The order having been
cbeyed, Gordon then sent the remaining
non commissioned officers into contine-
ment for one hour, with the assurance that
within that time, if the men did not fall
In, and if the name of the writer of the
proclamation was not given, every fifth
man among them should be shot. This
brought them to their senses. The files
fell in and the writer's name was dis
closed, when. as Gordonexpected, it turned
out to be the loud-voiced Corporal.
AFTER LEAVING CHINA,
The English Government forbidding
British officers to serve any longer in China,
Gordon, after receiving many tokens of
honor from the Emperor, returned home,
the next six years Of his life being devoted
to good deeds done by stealth. He was
commanding Royal Engineer at Grsvesend,
and there he spent his money on the poor,
teaching boys whom ne picked up out OF
the gutter, his house becoming in turn
school, hospital and almsnouse. One Incl.
dent is worthy Of special note, He had
gold medal the gift OF the Chinese EN-
press, aud this ornament suddenly disap.
peared, and years afterwards it was dis
covered that the General had erased the
inscription ana had sold the medal for so,
sending the money anonymously to Canon
Miller for the relief Of the sufferers from
the cotton famine at Manchester.
CoEBoN's CONTEMPT FOR FILTHY LUcRE
Has shown itself in remarkable manner
all through his career When appointed to
succeed Sir Samuel Baker as Governor OF
the tribes IN Upper Egypt, the Khedive
Offered him salary Of SIC, 600 but he ac
copied only g 0O0. On another occasion
he cut down his salary OF 50, 600 to IS COO
At one time in his chequered life he pos
sessed sum of IS 0O0 $40 O00i, and an
intimate friend pressed him to place it in
safety at proper interest. Gordon replied
that he could take care of it himself, but
the sum became reduced to - 600 by
secret charities and beueisctions within
year, and Elk months after that his friend
discovered that only $50 remained of the
original amount, When the letter of the
King OF Bslgians reached Gordon, inviting
him to take charge Of the Upper Congo, 1
and to eudeavor to extirpate slavery there, 1
he was lying on the Mount of Olives, |
studying day by day the topography of the /
Holy Sepulchre. Its a matter of wonder |
to many how, having made preparations !
for his West African expedition, and being /
on the point of starting for the Congo, he |
could so suddenly alter his plans and set |
forth for the Nile But the fact is the /
General despises preparations.
his RELIGIOUS NATURE.
Many Of the private letters Of General |
Gordon have recently been spread before |
the public, the marked feature of this cor.
being its devout incessant and |