, 1885-02-22

A Brief Review Of "a Lost Hero's
brilliant Career.


have been written and published during
the last twelve months that average intel
ligent readers arc already familiar with
about as much of his career as the world
will permanently remember. The quail
ties of character that made him success
full and famous kept him in constant hot
water with the governments he at one
time or another represented. and finally,
IL the reports are true, resulted in his
death. He was brave and unselfsh to a
fault. overtrustful Of enemies, constantly
unwilling to yield his own schemes to
those Of the government he served, but he
was so intrepid, SO conscientious and
chivalric at all times that only the good
must be said Of him now. He came Of
several generations of soldiers on his
father side and on his mothers Of the
most pious and practical women Of Eng
land. He was born at Woolwich. Jan.
%, 1888; educated at Taunton. in Som
ersetshire, and at the Royal Military
academy, Woolwich; entered the royal
engineers as second lieutenant June %,
1852, and was promotedto first lieutenant
in 1854. He served in the Crimean war
from December, 1854, to May. 1856; was
present before Sebastopol, was wounded
in the trenches and at the close ofthe war
he was defined among his comrades and
superiors as an officer Of adequate parts
and of sterling trustworthiness-a slightly
built. quick stepping, impetnous man, full
Of quenchless courage and with the man
ners ola child. AT the close Of the
Crimean war he returned to England and
was appointed British member of n sur
veying commission for the settlement of
the Turkish and Russian frontier in
Asia.
Returning to England after his frontier
service he tried soldering at home as in
structor Of ieldworks at Chatham and at
tanned the rank of captain April /, 1889.
While thus engaged the war with China
broke out. and Gordon was instructed to
join the army, which was advancing on
Pekin. He left England for China July
1860, and took part in the destruction Of
the famous summer palace Oct. II OF the
same year. Aner the English difficulties
with China had been arranged, Gordon
remained in the country and in March,
1868. was appointed by the emperor Of
China commander Of the army engaged
in suppressing the formidable TAPPING
rebellion. His record throughout the
struggle paints him as a marvel of
shrewdness and courage and OF endless
resources. He found the richest districts
Of China in the hands Of savage brigands.
He cut the rebellion in two, pursued and
chastised its fragments, gave China back
a united and peaceful country, disbanded
his ever victorious army, won the highest
praises Of England; the merchants and
bankers of Shanghai sent him their
gratitude and the emperor Of China con
ferred on him the highest military title of
China. There he was III Tu, commander
in chief, and to the world at large he was
henceforth Chinese Gordon.
From 1865 to 1871 Gordon lived at
Gavesend and was employed in the duty
of improving the defenses of the Thames.
These were the six quiet years of his life.
And during that period he appeared to
live wholly for the happiness of others
was more like a missionary than n military
officer. His house was school, hospital
and almshousc by turns, as the poor
around him needed his aid. From Graves
end he went to Galatz, the Roumanian
river port on the lower Danube, as British
member Of the Danubian commission to
superintend the improvement of the navi-
gability Of the mouths of the river; and
some excellent work of his remains there
to this day. By this time he had been
promoted to the rank Of colonel, and in
1928 was vice consul of the delta of the
Danube.
When Mehemet Ali entered upon the
work Of annexing the Soudan to Egypt
Gordon was finally selected for the work
Of stamping out the ~brigandage of the
region since become so famous, as
he had before been chosen to do a
similar work in China. He was first made
governor of the Provinces of the Equato-
rial Lakes, and finally governor Of the
whole Soudan. He arrived at Cairo in
February 1874. He was offered el0,O 600
to maintain his state but refused it and
accepted only $4,000. He went by way
Of the Red Sea TO Suakim and across the
desert to Berber. He found the region a
chaos of halfsavage tribes, frettine under
the oppressive would-be reform admins
ton Of Egypt as represented by Baker
Pasha. He applied himself with great
energy and soon garrisoned eight stations,
| quarreled with the governor general Of
Khartoum, OF n or two occasions
came near losing his life at the
hands of Arabs he had in his con-
fdence ~over-trasted. but by the end
Of 1876 he had done what was
required Of him in the Soudan, estab-
fishing numerous government stations,
establishing a paying relation between the
Soudanese and Egypt, routed numerous
slave catchers and was back in London
again. By February, 1877, he was
again on his way to the Soudan regions,
and till July, 1879. whenlIsmail abdicated
and Tewfk was made khcdive, Gordon
continued his arduous work of civilizing
the country.
n 1850 rAnn