A STIRRING CAREER

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 110, 11 May 1935, Page 31

A STIRRING CAREER

GORDON OF KHARTOUM

SOME RECOLLECTIONS

Recently a letter arrived from the 1 Sudan bearing a commemoration stamp—the head of General Gordon ' with the date 1833-1885 beneath, states 1 a writer in the "Christian Science 1 Monitor." At about the same time 1 a small book appeared which recalls 1 the stirring events in the career of ; "Chinese Gordon," the name his prowr ess in the Orient won him. . Charles George Gordon came of an • adventurous stock, while possessing : that steadfastness of purpose and sen- ; i sitiveriess to honour which marked the , | Highland Clan to which he belonged. At the age of 14 he was so full of ■ mischief that his father said, "When i Charles is about the place- I feel as though I were living over a powder barrel." Before he was 16, he passed into the Royal Military Academy, and so brjEan his momentous career; His high spirits and a certain fleryness of temper sometimes got the better of | him, as on the occasion when he tore his epaulettes from his shoulders and flung them at the feet of a superior ; oflicer who had told him he would never make good in the army. GORDON'S LEADERSHIP. 1 When the Crimean War broke out, he obtained a commission and was sent to the British headquarters near SebastapoL It was then that his natural.bravery..and remarkable intuition singled him out as" a bbrn leader among men.: One 'day, passing along the trenches, he overheard a dispute between a sapper and a corporal because the former had been ordered to repair a parapet that was being shelled while the latter.remained beneath. Gordon immediately leapt on to the parapet telling the corpora] to him., "Never order a man to do anything you would be afraid • to/, do yourself,' 1 he said. « ' In 1860- Gordon served .mi China, first with tiie allied force at Peking, and. then as Commander of "The Ever Victorious' Army,,-',', an irregular force of ■ Chinese, .peasants, whose .duty it was to overthrow ; the rebels, who were ', threatening,thejManchu.dynasty. With the .remarkable' power, he" had over ,men Gordon led.the soldiers from vio■tory 'to; victory,.;; carrying no other weapon than-a: little cane which tho Chinese, called.hk "magic wand." ' HAPPIEST IN PEACE. Yety despite his continual triumphs under fire, Gordon ever desired peace, dreading ■ any kind of publicity, and shunning society. It is told that when shown the--proofs' of, a book that'was being written on.-.-tbe Taiping rebellion he tore out any reference to his own share in i the suppression., Of .the six .| quieit'yearff spent at Gravesehd 'as com). jmanding engineer' officer, he wrote • that ;theyjvwere,the happiest of his 'life: This.-was* the period when, surj veying his. inner.,,nature, he realised What' strbhghbldsr -6f ' self-will < and seOfTesteenJt -.had\j! to be. conquered-4 battles more^iterce than he. had exf perience'd sipfoad:I.'' The* Bible: became his hourly companion^and,so illumined were some of the .passages "that he longed to share their inner meaning with others. His home became a refuge for the roughest and most illiterate boys, where they, not only, learned to read.and write, but glimpsed truths that changed their entire lives, When Gordon was named GovernorGeneral of the Sudan, he rejoiced in the opportunity it gave him to carry on his crusade" against the ■ African slave traffic. N In 1881 Gordon left Egypt, but three later_he_was -Qrdered_hack.. to carry out the evacuation of the Sudan. For many years trouble had been brewing with the Dervishes who, under a fanatic Mohammedan, -were organised into a regular force vowed to march against the "infidel powers of Europe." These forces now began' to close in upon Gordon's headquarters, and in March, 1884, all communications between Khartoum and the' outside world were cut off and the town was in a state of siege. In the British Museum can be seen the pages of the diary Gordon kept at this time" of strain, written in his strong handwriting. Every day he exepected relief to come, but week passed week and month passed month, and still there was no sign of the British forces. On January* 15, 1885, Omdurman surrendered, its supplies having become exhausted, but still Khartoum held out. A spy'brought news that the English ( were close at hand, but on, the evening of January 25 the enemy, waiting for the moon to set, forced their way into the town. Hearing-the, sound of firing Gordon stepped on to the verandah at the palace to- face' the Dervishes, and fell, before their spears. The last message in his famous Journal runs: "Goodbye; I have done my best for the honour of our country."