The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1885-02-26
Two Remarkable Characters.

leCb6u It's u lOrlOIll HUpo anu oItti tCu AoA
that fated city. Before going, he said
distinctly, II go to Khartoum to make
peace. We can come to no agreement.
He believed that the Mahdi was simply
disaffected toward the Egyptian govern
ment, and that liberal English proposals
would settle the trouble. He soon found
his mistake-that the Mahdi represented
a larger uprising than he supposed, and
then Gordon determined that the only So
luton to the situation was force. The
English government did not yield to this
policy. but in Difference to the sentiments
of the people Mr.. Gladstone concluded on
a plan to relieve Gordon. In August last
Gen. Wolseley left England in charge OF
what is known as the Nile expedition,
consisting of 5000 picked soldiers of the
English army. A part of the instruc-
ions of the war officer said; The pri-
mary object of the expedition up the Nile
is to bring away Gen. Gordon and Col
Stewart from Khartoum. When that OBJ
iect has been securedlno further offensive
operations of any kind ,are to be under
taken" But the Mahdi was not counting
peace. His assumed mission as Prophet
and Deliverer of his'people was to eNpel
the imfdels from the Soudan, and raise the
standard of Islam in revolt against Egyp-
tian rule. The progress Of the campaign
is familiar to our readers. and the death
of Gordon Jan. 26th, by assassination,
thr ough the treachery of the garrison OF
Egyptians who constituted his defence, IS
the bloody.period to'one of the most fas-
einating and heroic characters that the
century has produced. A fatalist OF the
intensest type, he had faith in his own
power to succeed in his visionary scheme
to sabdue a semi-eiyilized people, inhamed
to religious enthusiasm under the appeals
of the False Prophet, and win back to
peace people who stood in armed defiance
before their traditional foes and cruel OPP
pressors. Singly and alone he held aloft
the English flag in u hostile city. sur
rounded by tens of thousands OF Infatuated
fanatics, organized under the banner OF
Islam. and anxious to signalize their de-
votion to the cause the Mahdi represents
! bv rushing heedlessly into the jaws OF death
and marking their passage into the other
world with their crimson life current
Gordon S adventure seemed to be the very
poetry of daring. There WAS sublime
faith ruling his mind and inspiring his
heart. and armed with the courage born of
a supre me trust, he threw himself into a
trackless desert. amid burning sands and
swarming sayages, to travel almost alone
for a thousand miles to the heart OF the
Soudan forces. Reaching his destination
and finding the temper of the people
changed from what it twas a few years
ago. when he was among them and looked
upon as a second Savior, he had to aban-
don his methods of peace and persuasion,
and resort to the barbarous agencies OF
war. But cribled, cabinet and confined
within the narrow limits OF the city, with
no support but weak and treacherous
EGYPTIAN garrison, he brayely and patient
ly and cheerfully adapted himself to the
conditions around him, and awaited the
decree of fate. It. came in an unexpected
hour, but not unexpected, for he stated his
forebodings of fatal termination to his
sacrifices before he started upon his per-
ilous journey.
Thus fell at the hands of the savage as
sassins one of the most remarkable char
acters of any age. Without fear and with
out reproach, he filled the full measure OF
; the christian hero, and blended with the
heroic courage of the soldier, the VIII
ming graces and tender sympathies OF
consecrated follower of the Cross. Not i'll
| the realm of fiction has there been Gre
) ated more fascinating figure or one thai
/ carried with him SO completely the charm
2 of mystic romance. The century, in
deed, has produced but one Gordon, and
for his untimely fate the whole civilized
world mourns.
Another remarkable character looms up
above the common occurrences oflife, and
while he may not dazzle and entrance the
imagination as has the weird and fascinat-
ing life of Gordon. still his wanderings
and adventures will be watched with al
most equal interest and concern. On the
22d of January last, Bishop W. Taylor, a
native of Rockbridge, embarked at New
York for the dark continent. with fifty
three companions. thirteen Of whom were
children, to dedicate their lives to the en-
: lightenment and christian civilization OF
the dusky savages of Africa. His pre-
; vious career in India and South Africa
had been attended with as much daring
and sacrifice as that of Gordon. But his
mission was and is to raise the banner OF
the Cross and to conquer continent with
; the weapons of Truth and Righteousness.
He enters upon his work inspired by a
beautiful faith in the holy cause he speaks
for and an implicit trust that the means
to sustain his work will come from the
heart offerings of the christian world
He refused all aid from the conference
that appointed him. and with his fifty
two companions he crosses again the At
lantic for his destination.
He is to land his party at the Portuguese
port Of st. Paul de Loanda, and thence
proceed to Dondo. Il trading port on the
Coanza River, about 100 miles from the
coast. From Dondo missions are to be es-
tablshed every hundred miles, until they
meet other missions to be established on a
similar plan, starting from the east coast
via the Zambesi. The missionaries are
to sleep in tents until they get settled and
provide more permanent habitations, and
are to feed themselves on the beasts and
birds they can shoot, and fish they can
catch. Besides, they hope to carry on "a
frie:dly trade with the natives. They car
~ an abundance of cotton cloth, no end Of
jews -harps, and several thousand phoneti-
caly printed Testaments. If more Of
these last are needed, printing press,
which has also been carried along, will
supply the deficiency. The fifty-three who
have just sailed are only the advance guard
of an army which the Bishop has recruited.
If they have 1.-THE of the energy and en-
durance which he possesses they will do
wonders. African fever and certain other
peculiarities are, however. troublesome
and dangerous, if not insurmountable OBJ