The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1884-03-12

The Daiy, Weakly or Semi uceklH
|
The True Prophet If The h0ndnnH
The revolt In the Sudan has developed |
in the rescn VI tho Falte Pfophe! tic
strength OF Mussulman fana.icism, and in
the l;~nglishman Gordon 1t has brought
into striking ruiiet the fetvent force OF d
Christian character. FL Mali fights
under tho banner OF Mahomet. Cor.
don goes forth armed with "the sword Of
the Lord and Of Gideor." 1t has become
II conflict between tho highest civilization
and standardization, the Bible and the
Koran-a sudden and strongly emphasized
turn given 10 II by a single EnglIahman
without special leaye OF khediye, Sultan
or Qieen. It has come ont OF the strongly
religious, essentially God.fearing, nature
Of the man.
Neither tradition or history records a more
remarkable character than Gordon. lie
eeems 10 have leaped from the Old Tesla
ment-prophet and warrior, the Bible in
n hen ], the sword in the other, commits
sioned for a work aud fully furnished to
execute Il. lie has won fame without
caring for II; houors and rank have no
attraction Tor him. Devoted to duty, de-
vout and t%rustful, the chief cry Of his heart
is, "Ye,, though l walk through the val
Icy OF the shadow Of death l will fear no
evil, for Thou ar. wilh1ne, Thy rod and
Thy staff they comfort mo-" Death to him
is no evil; that he would regard as a blea-
I'd translation. This humble spirit is
.breathed through all his letters.
Charles Gordon comes Of fighting stock.
His father was a Major General OF artillery.
His brothers became soldiers before him.
He entered Woolwich to be trained for the
Royal Engineers. There, being once
charged with incompetency, "and told that
he would never make an officer, he tore
the epaulets from his shoulders and threw
them ut his superior's feet" What became
OF the fault finding superior is not recorded.
Gordon earnedh his commission and went to
the Crimea, where he won distinction in the
trenches. The Russian Val being ended,
his talent as a draughtsman secured him
service on the frontier commissions in
Bessarsbia and Armenia.
1t wa in China that he WAS to lay the
foundation Of his great fame and become
the Chinese Gordon Whose exploits read
like some tale Of oriental fancy. lie was
with the British forces in tho campaign OF
1860 which ended in the occupation OF
Pekin. He WIS given the task OF driving
the Taipings from the vicinity Of Shanghai,
and he made a thorough job Of it. Gordon
was thirty years Of age and a captain OF en-
gineers when the Chinese E Emperor applied
Tor an English officer to command tho
foreign-drilled contingent against the
Nankin rebels.
Gordon had employed his spare mo.
ments surveying the country and studying
the people, and the commander chose him
for the work. Ho took command to re.
trievo disaster, and BOOB the flight OF the
Taipings marked the course Of his lever
victorious army" II a charge WIS to be
mado Gordon led it in person, with no
arms but a email cane, which came to be
known as "Gordon's magic wand Of VIC
tory" talislnan which took hold OF the
superstitous minds OF his native soldiers
and fired them with unwonted ardor. His
genius, his daring and his splendid success
won for the young officer imperishable re.
nown.
Returning to England in 1864, still only
a captain though he had commanded a
victorious army, ho was a white elephant
on the hands Of the Government, but still
an elephant to be handled with consider.
ate delicacy. For want Of something bet.
ter no was given a place in the consular
service. But work more suited to him
awaited him in the soudan, over which the
Khedive placed him in 1874. Here for
five years he devoted himself to the cause
Of humanity, striking the Infamous slave
trade its first telling blow. What Gordon
did as Governor OF the Sondan would make
a book Of fascinating adventure and heroic
reforms. II will at last break the neck Of
the slave raids il it cost me my life" he
said; and the neck was broken.
When Gordon, now a Major General in
the Royal Engineera, went on his present
mission, some Of the military critics doubt.
ed aloud whether he would be able, with
moral precepis and promises Of reform as
his chief weapon, to restore peace in the
soudan. His dramatic occupation OF Khar.
toum is so recent that it mead not be de.
scribed. The people received him as a
Ho listened to their grievances,
determined upon his plans, and on that
day made a bonfire Of the debt books in
the public place; whips, bastinado rods and
other instruments OF torture were thrown
on to blaze with the other emblems Of op,
preston. He burst the bastile and set the
manacIed wretchesfree some olthem young,
many Of them girls, some who were limo.
cent and more who had never been tried
in all two hundred human beings in whom
he recognized brothers and sisters. In a
day he wiped out the oppression OF years.
In whatever be does this admirable, re.
markable man, does to the glory Of God.
win he fail ultimately in his great under.
In 1877, writing from this very
khartoum, he said Of his determination to
stop the slave trade: II can do II with