MR. GORDON'S LECTURE.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 321, 23 April 1875, Page 3

MR. GORDON'S LECTURE.

-We are sorry to,"have had to keep back for so long a time a notice of the lecture given in_aid of the Hospital by Mr. Gordon, an old soldier. As it is, -Tve/ Bays' had to 5 -considerably' curtail the* very original note's at our disposals — . , i

.. Mr//'CMrtnlEa and .Gentlemen. .-,.. I have jfuhdertakSn W^ive^'i:' hi'stbr'y"of my"life, and adventnires,, with descriptiontf the through which I have travelled—including Dublin, Lon--dpnirGibralter,- Malfa/theVsitbjbf ancient' Troy, •'-th* r 'Dardanellesi;: Constantinople' the;GolderfHorn,: the Black 7 Sea, and the Crimean ? s' ; s6n from the 1 co. jMayc^rlTClaniJ;—Xv joined-the v Irish volunteer ed to ser : ve-as-a'scontr:duririg"";the" war, or -while-my—services are required; I in ?P&VM7i&s? others, Arrived in T London m; August, 1854:f We were located in a Fffi& for about two 1 'months, and ..weredrilled at Knights-' bridge. 'We sailed -from Woolwich od : - we ;; 3rd of 4 Octohe ftl Xßo]4 for G-ibraltkv It: o. e 4 Ollgs v^ 9 'E- n g'? n <Ms'-strongly : fortified,' and its height is about 500 feet above the '- .of-.the sea. curiosities are its petrified trees, and the large num- '■■ ber of;monke"ysn-whicSlnlaSit the rock. . After taking -ffl horses-we-again set sail for-the Crimea: .~Malt&'has4)ne--o?-thy 'fineß*l harbors iii> the;"world: It's-principie town is VaJertaj" so called after one of i£s grand masters, -John; N deG Yaletta. He was one ojf the Knights, of Malta, or St. John; of Jerusalem; : 6he° bflthe most* ancient orders' of-chivalry. The Cathedral of St. John in Malta-is one of the finest. i the"" Dardanelles,"' .•not-'r far from, ancient ;Troy. I suppose .a. great many of you have read of the siege'of Troy, and \ destrudtion-in your schoolboy days. Im|agine my surprise in seeing the very spot. ; But the Tuihs, areJgone, nothing ; remain ed [but a few mounds of earth, where some of Mi. - heroes,, .and - assailants' are 1 ': supposed-to: be. buried,;.; After ; remaining, for-a day we .reritered'the'Dardanelles, a : narrow strait connecting the Atlantic ;with. the Sea-of Marmora, and' in some places.only a mile broad..;.. The .scenery along its' shore, is bea.utilul and picturesque. ■lt was here p that Lord Byron swam across to imitate some Grecian lover of old. When entering the, harbor of Constant!-" nbple on the;night of the; 13th November, 1854;-and "having"cast'anchbr, bur good Captain thought .himself... secure for the" night,, bnt, lo ; and behold! on the dark and dreary morning of the 14th our ship dragged her anchors, and was approachingthe rocks; and we were called out of bed at twenty minutes past-one in:the morning,-, and tokl.every man to look out-for; himself ~ Ji was' a, dismal scene. Some wer.e crying, some carousing, some pray ihg, some getting ready fora swim for life. I calmly surveyed the scene, put on warm clothing,' and held the lantern' for bur adjutant and while he was :; firing..signal guns for two hours for succour ; butno assistance came until it came from" Providence' between three and four o'clock in the morning in the shape :of,a:calin. Totbei crusadesthe world are indebted for the grand order of Knights Templars. They were at first only nine. Hugo d« : Payerines, Geoffrey ■,St?,..Mdßnsaisj^''and'yeven-;pthers...'^They vwent as pilgrims"' to the Happy ? Land, when Baldwin the 11. was King, in 1117 or 1119 A.D. They asked'permission to settle in Jerusalem. It was granted. Seeing the distress! the Christians were iredjwedi_to__Ui£y_,bound themseJves by •oaths pfthe '-most solemn- nature to sue-' cbur the : distress'ed, and did not confine : tljeir benevolence to ; the narrow limits of family ; and misfortune- were the Only cements which attached them to any. The Templars at length becamieiinumerous, and famous for t k e i*sso&Af&tip# : ..the infidels by land and the objection of .Roman Catholics -at the ; present time to become Templars, when-"they allow infidels into their ranks:; ; Amongst the rules'for preserving the honor "of the order it was ordained that a Templar should be legitimate, and noble in arms'and family for three descents. We entered the port- of Balaklava'on the 21st of November, and alas.! what a sight .met pur :eyes. The dead bodies of those who were on board the steamer Prince,.wrecked on the.l4th •N'ovemberj were floating in the harbor like so many logs of wood. The entrance toi Balaklava reminds me of the entranbe i to] a narrow New. Zealand,gorge/which ifc r is|almost impossible to""see: .'at a.distance. terrors' 'of the Crimean; winter of ?1854 ybu'have all read about;., I'have -served in, four places' in the' Crimea'y- • Balaklava, I 'Ka3bkbiy : tho front before' SV bajstopol, and Kazatch Bay; near the rujns of the ancient city of Calcedon. My. lifp 'Was once- saved T ' through''' a

comrade volunteering to take my place while I went to work. At another, through the promptness of my commanding officer going, on Board the Boßivy for a doctor when I was attacked with clioleja., I have been saved from drowning in Hob son's Bay, and also in being pswept.down the Ashburton in Canterbury I —when, giving, my self up for lost,- I cast my thoughts towards Heaven, and immediately my knees struck against a rock, where I held fast till saved.

I have faced death in every form In-battle sunnhine and storm

By every-peril of the sea, By famine and gaunt misery, Yet still as I have begun, And I suppose I shall be till mv race is run.