Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-03-26
IN MEMORIAM.
A Beautiful Tribute to the Late Genera
Gordon,

survival OF General GOrQOn must now
be put on one side. 1t now appears to
be placed beyond any doubt the fact
that he fell stabbed by traitors in the
midst of his faithful troops when Khar-
toum was betrayed. The end came as
he expected it Treachery ach eyed
what overwhelming force had failed to
effect, and the force of the Mahdi, adj
mitted within the fertilization by one of
Gordon's Pashas.' made short work of
all who would not espouse their cause.
The Notables were cut down to a man,
the faithful remnant of Gordon's gar
rison seem to have been killed fighting
hard to the last. Their children were
spitted on the Arab spears; their women
but there is no need to detail the
CHASTITY incidents of the sack of city
by the savage hordes of the African
desert. The streets of the city, we are
told, ran with blood. THE flame of
the sword and the lightning of the
spear shone in the doomed city for
space. and when our relieving steamer
arrived there was multitude of slain
and there was no end of their corpses"
The terrible formula which summed up
our policy in the Soudan has
been as terribly fulfilled. The
garrison, have been spared, and
over the whole of the Soudan the
Mahdi has now passed his bloody
sponge. Nothing has happened that
was not foreseen. Far be 1t from US to
profane such a moment as this with any
vain recriminationS. In the sanctuary
of our sorrow such revilings jar like
the hootings of some ill-omened bird as
we weep over the grave of our dead.
But it is precisely because he realized
so wildly the approach of that savage
orgie Of carnage and of lust that Gen
eral Gordon twelve months ago pleaded
SO earnestly against the evacuation of
the Soudan, and it was in order to stave
off this great tragedy he consented to
20 to Khartoum to do what he could.
He has done what he could. and the
catastrophe which, with such heroic
courage and such marvellous resource,
he has aVerted for a whole year, has at
last overwhelmed him and those whom
he sought to save. Red ruin has
fallen upon khartoun-her CHI ldren
have been dashed to pieces in the midst
of her, the women have become a prey
to the spo Ter. and the few brave men
who through all the long siege hare
endured faithfully to the end IN spite
of sore priyation, constant attacks. and
haunting sense of desert!on and de-
spair. have paid the penalty of their
loyalty with their lives. The kilograms
from korti read like the scrolls of the
Hebrew prophets on which were writ
ten the Judgment of God upon the cities
OF old time. All is over, and the cur
tain falls upon a scene of bloodshed
and desolation, only to be realized by
those who remember the carnage of
Cawnpore or the more recent horrors
of Batak.
Khartoum has been evacuated by
massacre, and with Khartoum General
Gordon has persisted. Of that there
can be no longer any doubt. A ca
reer of unsulled splendor has now
eliminated in a death worthy of the
life which it closed. 1.-The angels of
Martyrdom and Victory" said MAJ
zini, ''are twin sisters, for Martyrdom
is also the benediction of Heaven" 1t
is difficult for those of us who knew
Gordon as a man and as a friend to
speak without tear-d mined eyes and
choking utterance of him whom we
shall now see no more. None of those
who knew that noble heart, so tender
and true. who have felt the warm grasp
of that generous hand now cold in DEATH
who have been gladdened by the radi-
ance of his ready smile, Or inspired to
striving after nobler things by the glow
ing ardor of his simple faith. can dissoci-
ate their keen sense of personal bereave-
ment from those more general consider
atoms which must necessarily be before
81
who knew h m but loved him. So brave
he was and so gentle. so great and vet
so humble, inspired at once by the
sublimest ideals, and yet ever alive to
the humorous underside of the worlds
affairs. No woman could have been
more tenderly sympathetic, no paladin
more utterly fearless. He realized
more than almost any man the ideal
of the little CHI Id of whom it is said.
'.Of such is the kingdom of Heaven"
The transparent SINGER ty and genuine
ness of soul, the direct frankness of
speech, the utter absence of make
believe, even his tempestuous gusts of
wrath at injustice and deceit, and
the unreserved penitence with
which he would confess his
faults, were all chldlike to the last
decree But of all these things the
outer world knows little. and it is per-
haps almosta sacrlege upon the privacy
of sorrow to advert even in passing to
these touching memor es. But even in
the midst of our grief, as with uncov- |
cred head we salute the sacred dead /
who went and who return not we are
thrilled with proud 10y as we reflect |
upon the splendor of that stainless life !
now crowned with the aureole of mar |
tyrdom. Even with that terrible tele- |
gram of massacre and treachery before |
their eyes there is not one of his friends |
who for a moment regrets that General i
Gordon was sent to the Soudan to suf- !
fer and to die in the defense of khar- |
toum. Looking back over the whole |!
of the dark, confused weller of blood |
shed and blunder that filled last year. |
the m ssion of General Gordon stands |
out distinct and clear as the one great |
of England for which every t
one has indeed good cause to thank !
God and take courage. Of all the gifts /
OF Heaven to earth, the hero is infinite |
ly the greatest. In him the race sees /
incarnate its highest ideals, and his ex-
istence is in itself an inspirat on. For /
some time past it had seemed as If En- !
gland We're indeed in that decadence |
which Prince B smarck believes has al |
ready overtaken her. Her old deals
had been obscured. The call of duty
no longer rangin our ears as the Clarion
OF God-wrapped in ease and luxury
and in unbeiief we We're LOSING faith both
in England and n all that had made En-
gland great. The individual seemed so
of in