The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1885, THE LATE GENERAL GORDON.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1303, 14 February 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1885, THE LATE GENERAL GORDON.

General Gordon is dead. The noblest spirit ot the present day has passed ana}', fallen by the hand of a savagf assassin : and it is scarcely too much to say that the civilized world mourn his loss. No man was more widely known or more beloved. He was a soldier, a statesman, a man, and a Christian ; in fact, the most admirable qualities that dignify manhood were combined in him, while lie was completely free from the weaknessess and vanities to which human nature is prone. The story of Lis life is more like a romance than a reality. Jn the battle-field he was the bravest of the brave ; in private life he did all in his power to contribute to the happiness of his fellow-beings. It isrocordel cf him that in one battlefield he noticed two private soldiers and a sergeant disputing over mounting a wall which was exposed to the enemy’s fire, The soldiers refused to mount the wall in obedience to the command of the sergeant. General Gordon at once jumped on the wall and told the others to follow him, and then said to the sergeant, “ Never order men to go where you are afraid to go yourself.” He was a man that never knew what fear was. He believed everything was ordained by God, and that he would either live or die as God willed i f . " I am,” he once wrote, “ a chisel which cuts the wood. The Carpenter (moaning God) directs me. It I lose mv edge He sharjens ; if He puts me aside and takes another, it is His own free will. He will do His work with a straw equally as well. Do not flatter yourself that Uod cannot work without you ; it is an honor if He employs you.” These ideas directed him in all his actions, he believed himself an instrument in the hand of God, and his aim through life, was to keep himself “ sharpened ” that he might always be usefu'. And he was always useful too. He was born at Woolwich on the 28th of January, 183 S, and was killed on the 27th of January, 1885. On the 28th of January General Sir Charles Wilson reached Khartoum, so that if he had lived another day he would have been released from his imprisonment, and would have celebrated his 52nd birthday. As an officer in the Engineers he first saw service before Sebastopol, when, though young, be distinguished himself. In 1860 he went to China, where lie made his name famous throughout the whole world, and obtained the soubriquet of “Chinese” Gordon. At that time China was in the hands of the rebels, but shortly after he obtained command of the troops he rid the country of the brigands and marauders who were devastating it, and restored peace. One incident in his career in China deserves mention. He promised the leaders of the rebels that their lives would he saved provided they surrendered, and on these conditions they gave .themselves up ; but, whila he was engaged elsewhere, the Chinese Prime Minister had them all put to death in the most cruel manner possible. Gordon was furious when he heard this. Taking a loaded revolver in bis hand ho limited for the Prime Minister for three days through the city, and failing to find him he put the army on his track. All efforts to find the Minister failed, and thus his life was saved, for if Gordon had found him then he would have shot him dead. ' Messengers from the Chinese King went to him with a present of an enormous sura of money ; he threw the messengers and the money out of the door, and resigned the command of the army. He declined to accept honors or money, and left Chinn, as he said himself, as poor as ho went there. For six years he lived at Gravesend, engaged in fortifying the Thames, and devoting his spare time to teaching the poor children, and finding for them means of earning a livelihood, Ido subsequently became Governor of the Soudan, under the Egyptian Government, and his rule brought prosperity and contentment to that province. It was because of this that he was selected by the British Govern ment a year ago to quell n rebellion in the Soudan. They knew how belov’d he was by the Soudanese, owing to the manner in which he ruled them during the time of his Governorship, and they believed, as he indeed also believed himself, that the people would be led by him, and that he would bo able to counteract the influence of the Mahdi. Things, however, had gone too far. The Mahdi had secured many victories; success in many instances crowned Ins efforts, and the Soudanese had begun to believe in him as one sent by God to free their country from oppression. Thus things had gone too far before General Gordon reached there. Had he been there sooner there can be very little doubt but that hs would have been as successful as he bad been on former occasions. Immediately after reaching Khartoum Gordon realised that lie was too late. He left Cairo on the 51st anniversary of his birthday, 1884, reached Khartoum on the 16th February, and in the beginning of March he represented his position to the British Government, who replied that he could remain at Khartoum if he thought necessary, or leave it if he liked. Now, here is a most extraordinary thing. The Government sent him there, and then forsook him. It was then that General Gordon wrote ; “ I will do my best to carry out my instructions, but I feel convinced that I shall be caught at Khartoum ’’—and b« wap. The bravest

hero, th; noblest and greatest of Englishmen was caught at Khartoum, and fell a victim to the supineness and peuurioisuess of the British Government. A few thousand pounds would have sa'ed him—-the British public would give milieus to have him alive to-day 1 For six nonths the argument was continued at to whether he ought to be relieved *r not ; then a decision was amved a( (hat he ought; and then three or four nnnlhs were spent in discussing ns to which route the expedition ought to be sentby. The expedition was sent, and Sir Charles Wilson reached Khartoum to fad that he was a few hours too late and that the man on whom tin whole world looked with wonderment and affection had fallen a victim to the assassin’s dagger, Eleven (ninths he was allowed to remain a pnsoner in Khartoum. He held out, like he hero he was, to the last, and only succumbed when he was betrayed by i scoundrel whom ho trusted. He is now no more, and the human race is the loser by his death, He was a Scotchman by blood, and an Englishman by bi-tb, but his sympathies were not limitel to a country or a c!as«. Suffering humanity, wherever met with, was the object of his attention. He was never tired d condemning the cruelty of the Egyptians in the Soudan ; he resigned the position he held in India because bo couU not tolerate certain wrongs which vent perpetrated ; be studied tho Irish question, and championed the cause of Ireland ; in fact, he was always on the side of the weak and the oppressed. But he has gone, and ho has not left a 'setter behind him. “ His epitaph is written in his country’s mind — He served his countiy and loved his kind.”