* * * *

    We miss her in the place of prayer,
      And by the hearth-fire’s light;
    We pause beside her door to hear
      Once more her sweet “Good-night.”

* * * *

    Still let her mild rebuking stand
      Between us and the wrong,
    And her dear memory serve to make
      Our faith in goodness strong.

* * * * *

XIV.

“CHINESE” GORDON.

IN THE TRENCHES OF THE CRIMEA—­PUTS DOWN THE GREAT TAIPING REBELLION IN CHINA IN 1863-4—­HERO OF THE SOUDAN—­BEARDS THE MEN-STEALERS IN THEIR STRONGHOLDS, AND MAKES THE PEOPLE LOVE HIM.

At the present writing (Summer of 1884), General Gordon, who has won the heart of the world by his brave deeds, is exciting a great deal of interest on account of his perilous position in Khartoum.  A sketch of his career will be acceptable to not a few readers.

The likeness which accompanies this chapter is from a photograph taken not long ago at Southampton, England; but no portrait gives the expression of the man.  His smile and his light-blue eyes can not be painted by the sun.  The rather small physique, and mild and gentle look, would not lead the ordinary observer to recognize in General Gordon a ruler and leader of men; but a slight acquaintance shows him to be a man of unusual power and great force of character.

His religious fervor and boundless faith are proverbial—­so much so that some men call him a fatalist; whilst others say, like Festus, “Thou art beside thyself.”  Neither of these judgments is true, though it is certainly true that, from a desire to oblige others, Gordon has sometimes made errors in judgment that have led him into sad dilemmas.  To say nothing of his second visit to the Soudan, to oblige Ismail Pasha, and his rash and most dangerous embassy to King John of Abyssinia, to oblige Tewfik Pasha, we need but allude to his unwise acceptance of the post of private secretary to Lord Ripon in India.  He was overpersuaded, and to please others he sacrificed himself.  To those who knew him, it was not surprising that almost the first thing he did on landing at Bombay was to throw up his appointment and rush off to China, where he was instrumental in preventing war between that country and Russia.

The active life of General Gordon, who is about fifty years old, may be divided into the following sections:  the Crimea and Bessarabia; China (the suppression of the Taiping rebellion); Gravesend (the making of the defenses at Tilbury); and the Soudan.  A later and shorter episode occurs in his visit to Mauritius and the Cape, the latter colony being the only place in which his great capabilities and high character were unappreciated.

In the Crimea General Gordon worked steadily in the trenches, and won the praise of his superior officers for his skill in detecting the movements of the Russians.  Indeed, he was specially told off for this dangerous duty.  Lord Wolseley, then a captain, was a fellow-worker with Gordon before Sebastopol.