The Viceroy must have been more than human not to have felt somewhat keenly the awkward position in which he was placed on that voyage. To make matters worse, the ship was compelled to pass through the very territory where Gordon's name was best known, and he was most beloved, and thus the Suez Canal voyage was a kind of royal progress. Unfortunately the homage paid was to the subordinate, the uncrowned king, and not to him who held the higher position. It was Gordon's opinion that was sought for, it was to him that every one looked, and it is said by the well informed, that at least once on the voyage this led to difficulties. Be that as it may, the experience of that voyage showed Colonel Gordon that he was utterly out of place, and that it was neither fair to himself, nor to his chief, that he should continue in it, so he decided to resign at Bombay, which place he reached on June 1st. All sorts of reasons for this resignation were suggested at the time, but none of them went very near the mark. Of course some said that the difference of opinion on religious matters was the cause, while others alleged a political reason, saying that Colonel Gordon was opposed to the treatment of Yakoob Khan, the late Ameer of Afghanistan. Colonel Gordon's brother, the late Sir H. Gordon, has given publicity to this latter as the reason, but as a matter of fact it is not the correct one, and there is no use handing down false reports to posterity. More than this I am not at liberty to say.
The only published statement on the subject from Gordon himself was as follows:—
"In a moment of weakness I took the appointment of private secretary to Lord Ripon, and repented that I had done so at once, but I did not like to say so. I went out, and saw at Bombay that in my irresponsible position I could not possibly hope to do anything really to the purpose, in the face of vested interests out there; so seeing this was the case, and also observing that my views were diametrically opposed to those of the official classes, I gave it up. It certainly was a great consideration with me—Lord Ripon's position—for it was assumed by some, that my views of the state of affairs were those of the Viceroy, and then I felt I would do him harm by staying with him. Lord Ripon and I left perfect friends. The brusqueness of my leaving was unavoidable, inasmuch as my stay would have put me in the possession of State things that I ought not to know. Certainly, I might have stayed a month or two, and had a pain in the head and gone quickly; but the whole duties were so distasteful that I felt—being perfectly callous as to what the world says—it was better to go at once, and did so."
Subordinate posts of that kind may do very well for men of ability, who have a name to make; but it is not in accordance with human nature, that a man of brilliant genius, who had already made a great reputation as a soldier and an administrator, could serve with satisfaction to himself, or justice to his chief, in such a position, and Gordon was not the man to serve unless he could be thoroughly loyal.
Having resigned his post on the 3rd June, he received a telegram from London inviting him to go again to China. Mr. Robert Hart, then in China as Inspector-General of Customs, telegraphed to Mr. Campbell, his agent in London, to invite Gordon to go out on six months' leave. Mr. Campbell, seeing Gordon's resignation announced, at once passed on the invitation to Bombay. Gordon's reply was, "Inform Hart Gordon will leave for Shanghai first opportunity; as for conditions, Gordon indifferent." He then telegraphed to the War Office for leave till the end of the year. It was thought that China would shortly be involved in war with Russia, and as our own relationships with the Czar were not too friendly at that time, the War Office authorities felt bound to act cautiously, lest it should appear as if we shrank from fighting Russia ourselves, but were encouraging another nation to do so, by allowing one of our most brilliant officers to lead their forces. Consequently Gordon received the following telegram, "Must state more specifically purpose and position for and in which you go to China." Gordon's reply was, "Am ignorant; will write from China before the expiration of my leave." On the 11th he received a further message, "Reasons insufficient: your going to China is not approved." To this Gordon replied, "Arrange retirement, commutation or resignation of service; ask Campbell reasons. My counsel, if asked, would be for peace, not war. I return by America." The War Office were not, however, going to lose an officer of such ability so easily, so when Gordon arrived at Point de Galle on the 16th June, he found the following telegram awaiting him, "Leave granted on your engaging to take no military service in China;" to which he replied, "I will take no military service in China; I would never embarrass the British Government."
He arrived at Hong-Kong on July 2nd and went immediately to Shanghai, but hearing that his old friend, Li Hung Chang, was at Tientsin, he proceeded there at once, and found things in a very unsatisfactory condition. Prince Chun and the Empress Regent were anxious for war with Russia, being supported in this folly by all the Court, while Prince Kung and Li Hung Chang practically stood alone in their desire for peace. Li was so delighted to see Gordon that he fell on his neck and kissed him. Gordon at once threw his influence into the scale of peace. He had previously, before leaving India, expressed his views on the subject in the press:—
"My fixed desire is to persuade the Chinese not to go to war with Russia, both in their own interests, and for the sake of those of the world, especially those of England. To me it appears that the question in dispute cannot be of such vital importance that an arrangement could not be come to, by concessions upon both sides. Whether I succeed in being heard or not is not in my hands. I protest, however, at being regarded as one who wishes for war in any country, still less in China. Inclined as I am, with only a small degree of admiration for military exploits, I esteem it a far greater honour to promote peace than to gain any paltry honours in a wretched war."
As a matter of fact Gordon did succeed in convincing the Government at Pekin of the advisability of coming to terms with its opponent, and thus once more he rendered China an invaluable service. In his earnest advocacy he appears to have used such emphatic language that the interpreter dared not repeat it, so Gordon seized a dictionary, looked up the word "idiotcy," and pointed it out to them. Far better was it, in Gordon's opinion, to ruffle the self-esteem of a few bigwigs, than to allow two great nations to drift into a war which, after an enormous sacrifice of life and much suffering, must have ended fatally for the Chinese, who were quite unable to meet the trained hordes of Russia.