The tragic end at Khartoum was not an inappropriate conclusion for the career of Charles Gordon, whose life had been far removed from the ordinary experiences of mankind. No man who ever lived was called upon to deal with a greater number of difficult military and administrative problems, and to find the solution for them with such inadequate means and inferior troops and subordinates. In the Crimea he showed as a very young man the spirit, discernment, energy, and regard for detail which were his characteristics through life. Those qualities enabled him to achieve in China military exploits which in their way have never been surpassed. The marvellous skill, confidence, and vigilance with which he supplied the shortcomings of his troops, and provided for the wants of a large population at Khartoum for the better part of a year, showed that, as a military leader, he was still the same gifted captain who had crushed the Taeping rebellion twenty years before. What he did for the Soudan and its people during six years' residence, at a personal sacrifice that never can be appreciated, has been told at length; but pages of rhetoric would not give as perfect a picture as the spontaneous cry of the blacks: "If we only had a governor like Gordon Pasha, then the country would indeed be contented."
"Such examples are fruitful in the future," said Mr Gladstone in the House of Commons; and it is as a perfect model of all that was good, brave, and true that Gordon will be enshrined in the memory of the great English nation which he really died for, and whose honour was dearer to him than his life. England may well feel proud of having produced so noble and so unapproachable a hero. She has had, and she will have again, soldiers as brave, as thoughtful, as prudent, and as successful as Gordon. She has had, and she will have again, servants of the same public spirit, with the same intense desire that not a spot should sully the national honour. But although this breed is not extinct, there will never be another Gordon. The circumstances that produced him were exceptional; the opportunities that offered themselves for the demonstration of his greatness can never fall to the lot of another; and even if by some miraculous combination the man and the occasions arose, the hero, unlike Gordon, would be spoilt by his own success and public applause. But the qualities which made Gordon superior not only to all his contemporaries, but to all the temptations and weaknesses of success, are attainable; and the student of his life will find that the guiding star he always kept before him was the duty he owed his country. In that respect, above all others, he has left future generations of his countrymen a great example.
INDEX.
| [A] | [B] | [C] | [D] | [E] | [F] | [G] | [H] | [I] | [J] | [K] | [L] | [M] |
| [N] | [O] | [P] | [Q] | [R] | [S] | [T] | [U] | [V] | [W] | X | [Y] | [Z] |
- Abbas, steamer, ii. [144];
- loss of, [145-6].
- Abd-el-Kader, ii. [100], [102], [119].
- Abdulgassin, ii. [32].
- Abdullah, the present Khalifa, ii. [98], [102].
- Abdurrahman, ii. [45], [68].
- Abou Hamid, ii. [144].
- Abou Klea, ii. [163];
- Abouna, an, ii. [33].
- Abou Kru, ii. [164];
- Abou Sammat, ii. [29].
- Abou Saoud, i. [149].
- Abyssinia, the expedition to, i. [131]; ii. [5], [32], [35], [70] passim.
- Academy, Royal Military, i. [5], [6], [7].
- Adye, Sir John, i. [137].
- Afghanistan, ii. [45], [68], [69], [70].
- Alagos, i. [40].
- Albert Lake, i. [155], [156].
- Alexandropol, i. [35].
- Alla-ed-Din, ii. [102].
- Alma, i. [8], [16].
- Amoy, i. [72].
- Anderson, W. C., i. [41].
- Anfina, i. [158].
- Ani, i. [37], [38].
- Arabi Pasha, ii. [97].
- Arabs as soldiers, i. [150].
- Ararat, Mount, i. [38], [39].
- Aras, i. [33].
- Arendrup, ii. [5].
- Arokol Bey, ii. [5].
- Army and Navy Gazette, ii. [70].
- Ashantee Expedition, i. [138].
- Assiout, ii. [133].
- Assouan, ii. [153].
- Athens, i. [15].
- Ayoob, ii. [68].
- Bahr Arab, ii. [27].
- Bahr Gazelle, ii. [25], [105], [128].
- Baker, Sir S., i. [142], [143], [145], [149], [157]; ii. [113], [118], [139].
- Baker Pasha, ii. [105], [136].
- Balaclava, i. [15], [16].
- Bara, ii. [103].
- Bari tribe, i. [150], [151], [153].
- Baring, Sir Evelyn, see Lord Cromer.
- Bashi-Bazouks, ii. [4], [9], [10], [141], [142], [144].
- Basutoland and its question, ii. [71], [72], [75] et seq.;
- description of, [77-82].
- Basutos, as cavalry, ii. [87].
- Bayuda desert, ii. [161], [162], [163].
- Bedden, i. [153].
- Beechy, i. [90].
- Bellal Bey, i. [143].
- Berber, i. [147]; ii. [96], [139], [140], [143], [145], [159], [163].
- Beresford, Lord Charles, ii. [166];
- rescues Sir C. Wilson, [167].
- Berzati Bey, ii. [65].
- Bessarabia, i. [32].
- Bismarck, Prince, ii. [54], [55].
- Bisson, General, ii. [137].
- Blignières, M. de, ii. [107].
- Bogos, ii. [5], [33].
- Bolgrad, i. [32], [33].
- Boma Sola, i. [32].
- Bombay, ii. [45].
- Bonham, Sir G., i. [76].
- Bonnefoy, Capt., i. [92], [102].
- Bordeen, ii. [147], [151], [167].
- Borgu, ii. [32].
- Brandt, Herr von, ii. [54-55].
- Brocklehurst, Colonel, ii. [95-96].
- Brown, General, i. [90].
- Brown, Major, i. [116].
- Bruce, Sir Frederick, i. [47], [110], [121].
- Brussels, ii. [92-95].
- Burgevine, i. [54-59], [78], [81], [89], [90], [92-93].
- Burgoyne, Sir John, i. [14].
- Burnaby, Colonel Fred., ii. [164].