Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-09-03

the japanese administered their crushing
defeats to the Chinese, but each time his
to him more ample ' than before. Even in
those two brief Interruptions to his active
service for his country he was still re-
garded as the dominant personality in the
great empire. English historians have
given Chinese Gordon the glory and the
credit for suppressing the Tae-Ping re-
bellion. The genius that directed and the
hand that moved the forces that accom-
plished the result belonged to Ii Hung
Chang.
In the article by Mr.. John Russell Young.
quoted above, he treats this subject in
graphic and Interesting manner:
The deplorable and Unnecessary death Of
Chinese Gordon in the Soudan has thrown
around his memory the glamor Of mysti-
cism, and in the absence of available heroes
our English friends have given him pin
nacle OF greatness equal to that of Nelson.
The bent Of Gordon's mind toward theo-
logical disquisitions has attracted tho inter-
est shown in Havelock and Stonewall Jack
son. Out of this has grown the Impression,
now almost historical, that the suppression
OF the Tae-Ping rebellion was due to the
genius of Gordon.
His name has reached the Immortality of
romance. He lives in romance as the sup
pressor OF the Tae-Ping rebellion. Other
names disappear. Ward and Burgeoine,
the two Americans who rendered valuable
services, are forgotten, and the fact that
Ii Hung Chang, the Chinese commander,
had any part In the business is unknown.
Gordon, as young captain of engineers.
ABOUT twenty six, son Of a British general,
took part In the invasion of China in 1860,
assisted in the CAPTURE of Picking and in the
wanton destruction Of the Summer Palace,
the worst bit of business in the way Of
making an empire since the burning of our
national Capitol and public library by Adj
m1raI Cockbuln in 1914. Having finished
the Summer Palace, Gordon went to Shang-
nal to save the European settlement from
me Tae.Ping rebels. At the request of Ii
Hung Chang, he was attached to the i'm
perial forces, becoming lieutenant colonel
and mandarin. and taking with him into
the Chinese service q couple of hundred
Ensnshmen and other aliens, beachcomb-
eFS' Wal1s, stray sheep fugitiveS from JUS
tice, adventurers and representatives of
that strange tumble of human nature found
on the shores of Asia
The war ran on for a couple of years.
II was hardly a war-rather an amcable
BIT of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS adjourning
hostiifties during a battle that dinner might
be served" and other quaint neighborly
customs Customs, It was Chinese war. fought by
Chinese soldiers, victory achieved, when it
came at last by Chinese valor. The Incl
dent of the execution of the Wang princes
by the order of Ii, and Gordon rushing
around with pistol to shoot Ii for his
"treachery." has been much written about
until 1t already has attained the dignity
or a romance. The fact was that Gordon
was never In command Of the army of Ii
StlDuldtlOnS
as to the terrls that LII should give to an
enemy. If the viceroy had not taken the
heads of the captive rebel princes he would
nave disobeyed the commands of the en-
peror and lost his own. &c,
Ruler of Men. ,rc
i have dwelt upon the episode" con-
tinued Mr.. Young, mot to be unjust to a
memorable man. but to show his relations
to Ii Hung Chang and remove the impress
sion that In the Tae-Ping rebellion Gordon
was the master spirit, the viceroy a pup-
pet. The difference between the two men
was dlstfnct-Gordon dreamer a mystic
ever floating in the clouds of theo!ogies
throwing creeGs aside as gossamer webs
and believing himself under Gods Wil]-this
way, tEat way, translating his emotions
his impulses, into the direct command of
God governing his life; affectionate, high
tempered. swift to action. a stone out of
,he sing when duty called: law unto
hli1isell' the law an expression of vanity
because that law meant the will of Cod
whimsical. as when he suddenly threw IN
niSh once in India: high minded as when
ne refused money from China for his mill
tary services; supremacy brave when the
supreme hour came. Ii is ruler of men
AN intensely practical man. AS a soldier
stern. unrelenting: severe in discipline
knowing human nature: stubborn in argu-
nent: Eiasterful in discussion with a high
sweeping temper, so rarely seen in orient
ais; abrupt, straightforward, at times al
most to the verge of rudeness. a scholar Of
the highest rank and poet; given to
hImor, with q touch of gentleness in his
eyes; instant, even anticipatory. in his
courtesies, but always going to the heart
OF a question: never under illusions: keen
Ma.chIui, with memory like steel, going
ever TO his purpose. l can imagine no
stronger contrast than that between two
Such characters as those of Gordon and Ii
Hung Chang. And perhaps in this contrast
and esteem"
Progressive Statesmnnshiu.
During his long incumbency as governor
general, or viceroy, as he was generally
styled by foreigners. he became the open
and avowed advocate of the construction
OF railroads, the purchase of foreign-built
lronclads and gunboats, the erection of
modern Notifications, the use of foreign
cannon, and the Introduction of modern
military science, instruction, organization
and firearms.
He also built telegraph lines, which are
managed by Danish experts established a
school to instruct the operators, opened
and equipped coal mines the European
plan. built the first railroad in the empire
to carry the product to Tien-Tsin and the
neet founded military and naval acad-
envy, endowed a modern hospital, fitted I'D
arsenals. machine shops and cotton mills
with foreign machinery, and generally did
all that he dared do to introduce modern
appliances and improvements into. his own
province, and to awaken the government
to the Importance of introducing them
throughout the empire. His memorials on
all these subjects, and especially on the
origin, Introduction and advantages of
railroads, abound in the wisdom of a great
mind, and are set forth in terms which
ought to have aroused a government
STEPPED in the densest ignorance and con-
servatism. Practically they fell stillborn,
for while they were received, read and re-
ferred, the influence of the censors, or ALI
controlling court aided by the conserva-
tive officials of the other great boards, was
so great that it was impossible to secure
the adoption of a progressive policy on the
part of the throne, without which no ade-
quate measures could be carried into effect.
Whatever was done was done by Lii Hung
Chang, on his own responsibility, almost,
as it were, with the bowstring about his
neck. During this period of his most active
life his yamen, or official residence, on the
northern bank Of the Peiho at Tien-Tsin,
was the actual center of all the progress
there was in China, and Ii himself was the
hope and leader Of all, whether native or
foreign, who sincerely desired to see China
throw off the old, adopt the new, and take
her place among the nations Of the world.
No Parties I'm China.