GORDON AT GRAVESEND:

A PERSONAL REMINISCENCE.

DOUBTLESS there will be more, as there have already been many accounts given to the world of the life and doings of that brave and gallant soldier-that true and Christian gentleman—whose name, during the last twelve months or more, has been upon the lips of all mankind-whose deeds have been shouted aloud, or whispered low, according as the scales of his fate were buoyant with victory or heavy with failure.

One of the ablest of these accounts is prefaced by a regret that its author never had the good fortune to know him who was called 'Chinese Gordon.' I am neither author nor journalist, but I had the advantage of working under General Gordon for nearly two years at a time when he was perhaps less conspicuous to the world but better known as a man than at any other period of his eventful life; and, therefore, I hope to be able to give a fair account of the man himself as he appeared apart from the glare of fame through which he was commonly viewed.

And a very real and human man he was-as great, as good, and as true as any have described him; not a colourless saint without a flaw or fault to retrieve his goodness from monotony-as some would apparently have us conceive him-but a man whose genius was too brilliant and whose parts were too strong to be without corresponding weaknesses and prejudices almost as marked as his talents. If I describe his peculiarities as well as his goodness it will not be to detract from his reputation but rather to enhance it, for who could have loved Gordon as we did if he had been nothing more than a model of all the virtues?

When I first stood face to face with the St. Paul of the nineteenth century-for surely no other man of modern times has united in his person so many points of resemblance to the great Apostle, in career as well as in character-I was a long slip of a lad rejoicing in the post of assistant to the manager for the contractors who were constructing the fortifications at and near Gravesend. I was standing, with my chief, Mr. Woodhouse, on the terre-plein of the New Tavern

Fort, then nearly completed, when the Colonel came across the little parade ground from his office and joined us.

This is my new assistant, Colonel Gordon,' said my chief by way of introduction. My hand was grasped heartily, a quick nervous voice bade me a kindly 'Good morning,' and the next moment I was looking into Chinese Gordon's' eyes. What eyes they were! Keen and clear, filled with the beauty of holiness; bright, with an unnatural brightness; their expression one of settled feverishness, their colour blue grey, as is the sky on a bitter March morning. I know not what effect those eyes had on all whom he came in contact with, though from the unfailing and willing obedience with which his orders were carried out I fancy that to some extent he unconsciously mesmerised nine out of ten to do his will, but I know that upon me their effect was to raise a wild longing, a desperate desire to do something, anything, at his bidding. It was not an unpleasant or uncanny sensation; it was not that any evil thought or suspicion lurked within the windows of his brave and pure soul, his power was the power of resolute goodness, and it was strong, so strong that I am sure had he told me to stand on my head, or to perform some impossible feat, I should certainly have tried my utmost to accomplish it without giving a moment for reflection as to whether the order was reasonable or not.

I saw much and heard more of Gordon during the time I was on the Tilbury, Gravesend, and Cliffe Forts. I can fully confirm the account Mr. Hake gives of his life at that time, except that I never saw any of the inscriptions God bless the Kernel,' which he says were to be found chalked on the walls and fences in the neighbourhood, nor have I been able to find anyone who ever did see them.

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It was Gordon's custom to begin his working day at eight o'clock in the morning, and to end it at two in the afternoon. Before and after those hours he was practically as inaccessible as if he had been on the other side of the globe. Some few there were who had tried the experiment of interviewing him in his official capacity during the forbidden hours, but I never heard of their attempts being successful; indeed, the Colonel's manner at such times was (to put it mildly) distinctly discouraging, and usually made the offenders determine never to violate his rules again. For, in spite of the beautiful goodness of his heart and the great breadth of his charity, Gordon was far from possessing a placid temperament, or from being patient over small things. Indeed, his very energy and his singlemindedness tended to make him impatient and irritable whenever any person or thing interfered with his instructions or desires.

On one occasion the clerk of the works at Tilbury Forts was helping his brother sergeant at New Tavern Fort to set the firing lines for an embrasure. Some of the workmen were thrown idle until the pegs were driven to guide them in their work. A difficulty arose

which could only be settled by the Colonel; it was but seven o'clock; they could see that his bedroom window was open wide, so concluded that he had risen, and my chief suggested that to avoid delay they should appeal to the Colonel at once.

'I won't risk it,' said one sergeant.

'I wouldn't go for any money,' said the other.

What was to be done? At last both urged my chief to go, he being considered, and with good cause, to stand as high as anyone in the Colonel's good graces. As the matter was pressing he went. The Colonel himself opened the door in response to his summons, and on seeing who it was half closed it again.

'What do you want?' he said shortly, and with an expression on his face which boded no good to the mission on which he was thus disturbed.

Mr. Woodhouse is an even-tempered, imperturbable man, not easily upset, so in spite of his chilling reception he explained very blandly, 'We cannot get the firing lines to No. 1 gun set properly without some instructions from you, Colonel, and———.”

'By-and-by,' broke in the Colonel, testily, and closed the door in his face.

My chief retired, naturally somewhat nettled at this behaviour, but at eight o'clock the Colonel sallied forth, with a face as bright and a manner as cheerful and complacent as if he had never heard of the difficulty before, and at once settled the question off hand. And yet the sight of the men standing idly waiting for him must have touched his soft heart with a pang of regret that he had not come out when asked, for he took occasion to say, ere he walked away, that he was so sorry the men had been kept waiting; he did not know they were unable to get on with anything else until that particular job was done.

"Ah! you wouldn't give me time to tell you that, Colonel,' my chief replied with a laugh; but all the same he vowed within himself that the Colonel should see many and many a sun rise and set before he found him at his door earlier than eight in the morning again.

When Gordon was at work there was never any mistake about it, and woe to the man who then kept him waiting for anything a moment longer than was absolutely necessary. 'Another five minutes gone! We shall never have them again!' he would rap out at such times, and a whole world of meaning lay in the words when he was the speaker; infinitely more telling they were than the more vigorous English in which most men give vent to growing impatience.

In the early days of his command at Gravesend his soul was sorely tried by the time spent in rowing from one fort to another, and before long he discarded the pair-oared boat which his predecessor had used in favour of a four-oared gig, which soon came to be known as the fastest pulled boat in those waters. When I was at the forts

he had his crew in a high state of discipline, and it was a most suggestive sight to see these men, who had perhaps been waiting for hours on the chance of being wanted, smarten themselves up when he came through the Ordnance Yard and gave the word for the boat— to see them scurry along down the jetty and into the boat, and almost before he was fairly seated have her cast off and their oars dipped. I believe they adored him in their hearts, but he certainly did take it out of their bodies. They fairly groaned within themselves when he chanced to take a down-stream journey with a tide running strongly up, for it, meant a constant fire of impatient appeals- A little faster, boys, a little faster!'-which they could not disregard until their goal was reached. I have seen them tumble out at Cliffe after a four-mile pull against tide about as limp as four strong men could well be without dropping.

There was indeed nothing more remarkable about Gordon than his almost morbid appreciation of the value of time; he would not, of his own accord, waste a single moment; his own words, Inaction is terrible to me,' were in fact literally true.

For a man of his small stature his activity was marvellous-he seemed able to walk everyone else off their legs, over rough ground or smooth. It was a most comical sight, for anyone with a sense of humour, to see him land at a fort and run up the glacis and round the works, followed by one or more of his own staff, my chief (a massive, slow-moving man), and two or three foremen, all comfortable' in bulk. Whenever he paused, his followers would straggle up one by one in various stages of breathlessness; and invariably did he require to address his first remark to one of those who were furthest behind. At Cliffe I, being young and slim, was able to keep close to him, and I took care always to use the advantages Nature had given me when he visited that fort.

To all of us, his subordinates, he was always scrupulously polite; but although there was no undue self-assertion or hauteur in his manner, it was never possible to forget, when he was on duty, that he was the Colonel-Commandant. He was extremely reticent and sparing of remarks when on the works, and always confined himself strictly to the business in hand.

In Gordon strength and weakness were most fantastically mingled. There was of course no trace of timidity in his composition, or he could never have occupied his unique position in the world. But he was of a highly nervous temperament, which made him extremely sensitive in some respects, especially as to the feelings of others who might be affected by his doings. He had a most powerful will, and as high a sense of duty as was possible for a man to have; and when he believed any course to be right, and that it was his duty to follow it, he was absolutely indifferent to all dissuading or moderating influences. He did not combat opposing counsels at any time, but

simply ignored them; when his mind was made up on a matter, it never seemed to occur to him that there could be any more to say about it!

This superb confidence in himself, without the least arrogance or conscious egotism, went far towards making Gordon the distinguished figure he was to everyone with whom he had to do. No doubt his ability and industry can be equalled by many now serving their Queen and country, but it is given to few to have such natural powers combined with a like absence of self-pride. Indeed, with him the desire to efface himself amounted almost to a disease. Nothing irritated him more than to be effusively or even gratefully thanked for any kindness, though kindness he was ever ready to show where there was want or misery to relieve. All sorts and conditions of men became the objects for his labour and the recipients of his charity; and of their deserts he was not critical.

There were those among his acquaintances who declared oftentimes that he was too indiscriminate, particularly those who themselves discriminated so much as to relieve themselves from any efforts to help their fellow-creatures in trouble, but Gordon was never swayed by these; any visible want or misery was sufficient to arouse his sympathy and ensure his help.

As was but natural, he was often imposed upon. Boys there were whom he had rescued from the gutter, whom he had fed, clothed, and housed, whom he had kept for months in his own house until he could find such berths for them as would secure them decent livings; and some of these, having no grit in them, no mind to labour for themselves, came back again and again, trusting to the Colonel's bounty and goodness. It needed many such failures to convince him that these defaulters were in truth incorrigible.

In one instance Gordon took a boy into his house, fed, clothed, and taught him, and at last placed him satisfactorily on board ship. But this youth, having no mind for work, bolted at the first chance, loafed about for a while, and then, finding he was getting thinly stocked both within and without, came in rags and tatters to the Colonel, and appealed to him for one more chance. The result was another trial, followed by another situation with another complete outfit. But it was all to no purpose. Three times this little impostor was taken in, fed back to strength, clothed afresh, and well placed by the Colonel, and as often did he return to the streets to sink again into wretchedness and rags. The last time he came back was at night. The Colonel was not then at home, but when he returned he found his twice-tried protégé on the door-step, half dead with hunger and cold-though it was not winter time-a mass of rags, and in a disgusting state of filthiness. To take him in with three other boys, then living in the house, was out of the question; and to leave him outside was, for the Colonel, no less impossible VOL. XVII.-No. 98.

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