Chapter 2

"The greatness of a nation depends upon the men it can breed and rear.--_Froude_.

The war over and peace duly established, Lieutenant Gordon (for so he was then) accompanied General Sir Lintorn Simmons to Galatz, where, as assistant commissioner, he was engaged in fixing the new frontiers of Russia, Turkey and Roumania. In 1857, when his duties here were finished, he went with the same officer to Armenia; there, in the same capacity, he was engaged in laying down the Asiatic frontiers of Russia and Turkey. When this work was completed he returned home and was quartered at Chatham, and employed for a time as Field Work Instructor and Adjutant. In 1860, now holding the rank of Captain, he joined the Army in China, and was present at the surrender of Pekin; and for his services he was promoted to the rank of Major.

THE BURNING OF THE SUMMER PALACE.

"On the eleventh of October," Gordon relates, "we were sent down in a hurry to throw up earth works against the City; as the Chinese refused to give up the gate we demanded their surrender before we could treat with them. They were also required to give up the prisoners. You will be sorry to hear the treatment they have suffered has been very bad. Poor De Norman, who was with me in Asia, is one of the victims. It appears they were tied so tight by the wrists that the flesh mortified, and they died in the greatest torture. Up to the time that elapsed before they arrived at the Summer Palace, they were well treated, but then the ill- treatment began. The Emperor is supposed to have been there at the time.

But to go back to the work, the Chinese were given until twelve on the 13th, to give up the gate. We made a lot of batteries, and everything was ready for assault of the wall, which is a battlement, forty feet high, but of inferior masonry; at 11.30 p.m., however, the gate was opened, and we took possession; so our work was of no avail. The Chinese had then, until the 23rd, to think over our terms of treaty, and to pay up ten thousand pounds (10,000 pounds) for each Englishman, and five hundred pounds (500 pounds) for each native soldier who had died during their captivity. This they did, and the money was paid, and the treaty signed yesterday. I could not witness it, as all officers commanding companies were obliged to remain in camp, owing to the ill-treatment the prisoners experienced at the Summer Palace. The General ordered this to be destroyed, and stuck up proclamations to say why it was ordered. We accordingly went out, and after pillaging it, burned the whole magnificent palace, and destroyed most valuable property, which could not be replaced for millions of pounds.

"This Palace" (wrote the author of _Our Own Times_), "covered an area of many miles. The Palace of Adrian, at Tivoli, might have been hidden in one of its courts. Gardens, temples, small lodges and pagodas, groves, grottoes, lakes, bridges, terraces, artificial hills, diversified the vast space. All the artistic treasures, all the curiosities, archaeological and other, that Chinese wealth and taste, such as it was, could bring together." Gordon notes, "This palace, with its surrounding buildings, over two hundred in number, covered an area eight by ten miles in extent." He says, "it makes one's heart burn to see such beauty destroyed; it was as if Windsor Palace, South Kensington Museum, and British Museum, all in one, were in flames: you can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the things we were bound to destroy."

"These palaces were so large, and we were so pressed for time, that we could not plunder them carefully. Quantities of gold ornaments were burned, considered as brass. It was wretchedly demoralizing for an army: everybody was wild for plunder . . . The throne and room were lined with ebony, carved in a wonderful manner. There were huge mirrors of all shapes and sizes, clocks, watches, musical boxes with puppets on them, magnificent china of every description, heaps and heaps of silks of all colours, coral screens, large amounts of treasures, etc. The French have smashed up everything in a most shameful way. It was a scene of utter destruction which passes my description." This was not much in Gordon's line.

In the following year he made a tour on horseback to the outer wall of China at Kalgan, accompanied by Lieutenant Cardew. A Chinese lad of the age of fourteen, who knew a little English, acted as their servant and interpreter, while their personal luggage was conveyed in the Chinese carts. In the course of this tour we are told they passed through districts which had never before been visited by any European. At Kalgan the great wall was seen, with its parapet about twenty-two feet high, and sixteen feet broad. Both sides were solid brick, each being three times the size of our English bricks. Gordon writes: "It is wonderful to see the long line of wall stretching over the hills as far as the eye can reach." From Kalgan they travelled westwards to Taitong; here they saw huge caravans of camels laden with tea going towards Russia. Here they were forced to have the axle trees of their carts widened, for they had come into a great part of the country where the wheels were set wider than in the provinces whence they came. Their carts, therefore, no longer fitted into the deep ruts which had been worn into the terribly bad roads. The main object of their journey was to find out if there was in the Inner Wall any pass besides the Tchatiaou which on that side of the country led from the Russian territory to Pekin. It was not until they reached Taiyuen that they struck the road that led to Pekin or Tientsin.

Their first bit of trouble on this somewhat venturesome tour occurred at Taiyneu; when the bill was brought for their night's entertainment, they found it was most exorbitant. They saw they were likely to have trouble, so they sent on the carts with luggage and waited at this strange hostelry till they believed they had got well out of the way. Then they offered what they believed was a reasonable amount in payment of their bill. It was refused. They then tried to mount their horses but the people at the Inn stopped them. Major Gordon hereupon drew his revolver more for show than for use, for he allowed them to take it from him. He then said, "Let us go to the Mandarin's house." To this consent was given, and the two wide-awake English officers walked alongside their horses. On the way Gordon said to his companion "are you ready to mount?" "Yes" he replied. So they mounted quietly, and went on with the people. When they reached the Mandarin's, they turned their horses and galloped off after their carts as fast as they could, having paid what they believed a reasonable amount for expenses. The people yelled and rushed after them, but it was too late. Some distance from the place where they had spent the night they came upon the pass over the mountains which led down into the country, drained by the great Peiho river. "The descent" says Gordon, "was terrible, and the cold so intense that raw eggs were frozen as hard as if they had been boiled half an hour." To add to their troubles, the carts they had sent on in front had been attacked by robbers. They, however, with many difficulties managed to reach Tientsin in safety; their leave of absence had been exceeded by about fourteen days. In 1862 Major Gordon left for Shanghai under the orders of Sir Charles Staveley who had been appointed to the command of the English forces in China. At the very time that England and France were at war with China, a terrible and far reaching rebellion was laying waste whole provinces. An article in our London _Daily News_ about this date said, "But for Gordon the whole Continent of China might have been a scene of utter and hopeless ruin and devastation." At the date he took charge of the "ever victorious army," China was in a state of widespread anarchy and confusion.

This rebellion which Gordon was here authorized to suppress was called "The Tai-ping rebellion." Its rise was brought about by a strange mixture of incredulity and fanaticism, caused by some European Christian giving away his literature. A village demagogue named Hung-tsne-Shuen caught the idea, after reading the papers referred to, that he was inspired; that he was God, King, Emperor, and that he ought to rule; so, puffed up with pride and insatiable ambition, he began raising an army; and aimed at nothing less than the usurpation of the "Dragon Throne." Some thought him mad; but he gathered about him some 20,000 men whom he had influenced to believe in him as the "Second Celestial Brother," and gave out he was a seer of visions, a prophet of vengeance and freedom; a champion of the poor and oppressed; and many were mad enough to believe him, and thus he raised an army which grew in strength until it reached some hundreds of thousands strong; he then proclaimed himself the Heavenly King, The Emperor of the great place; and then with five wangs or warrior kings, chosen from amongst his kinsmen, he marched through China, devastating the country, and increasing his army in his progress.

The most populous, and until now wealthy provinces were soon in his hands. The silk factories were silent; the Cities were falling into utter and hopeless desolation: rebellion, war and famine, raged and reigned supreme. Gordon made them pause! His marvellous power of organizing and leading men, a power derived from an inflexible, determined, fearless, and deeply religious temperament, influenced the Chinese character quickly and powerfully. His very name soon became a terror to the banded brigands and to all evil doers. An Englishman in China at the time wrote home and said "The destiny of China is in the hands of Major Gordon, and if he remains at his post the question will soon be settled, and peace and quiet will be restored to this unfortunate, but sorely tried country."

In all the strange and trying experiences of this Chinese Campaign Gordon bore himself with a bravery and courage seldom equalled, we think never surpassed.

Dr. Guthrie once said, "It is very remarkable, and highly creditable to the loyalty and bravery of our British soldiers, that, notwithstanding all the wars in which they have been engaged, no foreign nation to-day flaunts a British flag as a trophy of its victory and of our defeat. Nor in the proud pillar raised by the great Napoleon in commemoration of his many victories--a pillar made of the cannons taken by him in battles, is there an ounce of metal that belongs to a British gun." The characteristics of the bravest of our British soldiers were pre-eminently displayed in Gordon. For--

"He holds no party with unmanly fears, Where duty points he confidently steers: Faces a thousand dangers at her call, And trusting in his God surmounts them all."

His soldierly qualities were very often put to the test in this strange land. Hung, the leader of this rebellion, had become so popular and made such marvellous progress that when Gordon had organized his ever victorious army, Hung had captured Nanking, one of the principal cities, and made this his capital; and here, under the very shadow of the Chinese metropolis, he established himself in royal state. His followers were held together by the force of his religious tenets; they believed in him as the Lord from Heaven, who would save the suffering minds and give them a celestial reward. A missionary who was in Nanking, Rev. J. L. Holmes, gives his impressions of this warlike devotee. "At night (he says) we witnessed their worship. It occurred at the beginning of their sabbath, midnight on Friday. The place of worship was the Chung-Wang's private audience room. He was himself seated in the midst of his attendants, no females were present. They first sang, or rather chanted; after which a written prayer was read, then burned by an officer; then they rose and sang again, then separated. The Chung-wang sent for me before he left his seat, and asked me if I understood their mode of worship. I replied I had just seen it for the first time. He explained that the Tien-wang had been to the celestial world and had seen the Great God and obtained a revelation! &c. . . . As the day dawned we started for the Palace of the Tien-wang. The procession was headed by a number of brilliantly coloured banners, after which followed a troop of armed soldiers; then came the Chung-wang in a large sedan, covered with yellow satin and embroidery, and borne by eight coolies. Music of a peculiar kind added to the scene, as the curious sightseers lined the streets on either side, who probably never saw such a sight before. Reaching the "Morning Palace," we were presented to the Tsau-wang and his son with several others including the Tien-wang's two brothers, who were seated in a deep recess over the entrance of which was written "Illustrious Heavenly Door." In another place was "Holy Heavenly Gate," from which a boy of about fourteen made his appearance and took his place with the royal group; then they proceeded with their religious ceremonies again: this time kneeling with their faces to the Tien-wang's seat. Then they sang in a standing position. A roast pig and the body of a goat were lying with other articles on tables in the outer court, and a fire was kept burning on a stone altar in the front of the Tien-wang's seat. Afterwards, says the missionary, I was led through a number of rooms and courts to see Chung- wang privately. I was brought into one of his private sitting-rooms, where he sat clothed loosely in white silk, with a red kerchief round his head, and a jewel in front. He was seated in an easy chair, and fanned by a pretty slipshod girl. He asked me to a seat beside him and questioned me about a map he had seen with parallel lines running each way, said to have been made by foreigners, asked me to explain what it was. He also showed me a musical-box and a spy-glass, asking many questions. From all I could learn by my visit to this pretender there was nothing in their religion to elevate, but everything to degrade. With them to rob and murder were virtuous deeds. "Slay the imps" was their watchword. Gordon found in this fanatic a foe of no mean order. But he soon found too that courage and faith in God had done and would still lead to victory. In a letter home he says--"I am afraid you will be much vexed at my having taken the command of the Sung-kiang force, and that I am now a mandarin. I have taken the step on consideration. I think that any one who contributes to putting down this rebellion fulfils a human task, and also tends a great deal to open China to civilization. I will not act rashly, and I trust to be able soon to return to England; at the same time I will remember your and my father's wishes, and endeavour to remain as short a time as possible. I can say that if I had not accepted the command I believe the force would have been broken up and the rebellion gone on in its misery for years. I trust this will not now be the case, and that I may soon be able to comfort you on this subject. You must not fret about me, I think I am doing a good service . . . I keep your likeness before me, and can assure you and my father that I will not be rash, and that as soon as I can conveniently, and with due regard to the object I have in view, I will come home."

Gordon had hardly yet realized the difficulties and dangers which beset him. His troops were undisciplined and largely composed of all nationalities. Men bent on plunder, and exceedingly numerous; about 120,000 men. Gordon's appointment as Chief in Command of the "Ever Victorious Army" proved to be a wise and good one for China.

Colonel Chesney thus writes:--"If General Staveley had made a mistake in the operations he personally conducted the year before, he more than redeemed it by the excellence of his choice of Gordon. This strange army was made up of French, Germans, Americans, Spaniards, some of good and some of bad character, but in their chief they had one whose courage they were bound to admire, and whose justice they could not help but admit. The private plundering of vanquished towns and cities allowed under their former chief, disappeared under the eye of a leader whose eye was as keen, as his soul was free from the love of filthy lucre. They, however, learned to respect and love a general in whose kindness, valour, skill, and justice they found cause unhesitatingly to confide; who never spared himself personal exposure when danger was near. In every engagement, and these numbered more than seventy, he was to the front and led in person. His somewhat undisciplined army, had in it many brave men; but even such men were very reluctant at times to face these desperate odds. Whenever they showed signs of vacillation he would take one of the men by the arm, and lead him into the very thick of the fight. He always went unarmed even when foremost in the breach. He never saw danger. A shower of bullets was no more to him than a shower of hailstones; he carried one weapon only, and that was a little cane, which won for itself the name of "Gordon's magic wand." On one occasion when leading a storming party his men wavered under a most withering fire. Gordon coolly turned round and waving his cane, bade his men follow him. The soldiers inspired by his courage, followed with a tremendous rush and shout, and at once grandly carried the position. After the capture of one of the Cities, Gordon was firm in not allowing them to pillage, sack and burn such places; and for this some of his men showed a spirit of insubordination. His artillery men refused to fall in when ordered; nay more, they threatened to turn upon him their guns and blow him and his officers to pieces. This news was conveyed to him by a written declaration. His keen eye saw through their scheme at a glance, and with that quiet determination which was his peculiar strength, he summoned them into his presence and with a firmness born of courage and faith in God, he declared that unless the ringleader of this movement was given up, one out of every five would be shot! At the same time he stepped to the front and with his own hand seized one of the most suspicious looking of the men, dragged him out, and ordered him to be shot on the spot at once, the order was instantly carried out by an officer. After this he gave them half an hour to reconsider their position at the end of which he found them ready to carry out any order he might give. It transpired afterwards that the man who was shot was the ringleader in this insubordination."

When Gordon had broken the neck of this far-reaching and disastrous rebellion, and had restored to the Emperor of China the principal cities and towns in peace, the London _Times_ wrote of him:--"Never did a soldier of fortune deport himself with a nicer sense of military honour, with more gallantry against the resisting, with more mercy towards the vanquished, with more disinterested neglect of opportunities of personal advantage, or with more entire devotion to the objects and desires of the Government he served, than this officer, who, after all his splendid victories, has just laid down his sword."

Before leaving China he was offered a very large reward in cash, as it was acknowledged on all hands he had saved the Empire more than 5,000,000 pounds sterling. All money he refused; he, however, asked that some of it might be given to the troops, who had served him on the whole with great loyalty, and this was granted. A gold medal was struck in honour of his marvellous achievements, and this he accepted and brought home; but it was soon missing. He thought more of the starving poor than of any medal; so he sold it, and sent the cash it realized to the Lancashire Cotton Operatives, who were then literally starving. The Imperial Decree of China conferred upon him the rank of "Ti-tu," the very highest honour ever conferred upon a Chinese subject. Also the "Peacock's feather," "The Order of the Star," and the "Yellow Jacket." By these he was constituted one of the "Emperor's Body Guard." In a letter home he says, "I shall leave China as poor as I entered it, but with the knowledge that through my weak instrumentality from eighty to one hundred thousand lives have been saved. Than this I covet no greater satisfaction."

Before he left China, as a proof of the estimation in which he was held, a grand illuminated address was presented to him, signed by more than sixty of the leading firms of the Empire, and by most of the bankers and merchants of the cities of Pekin, Shanghai, and of the principal towns throughout China.

It read thus:--"Honoured Sir,--On the eve of your departure to your native country, we, the undersigned, mostly fellow-countrymen of your own, but also representing other nationalities, desire to express to you our earnest wish for a successful voyage and happy return to your friends and the land of your birth.

"Your career during your stay amongst us has been, so far as we know, without a parallel in the history of foreign nations with China; and we feel that we should be alike wanting towards you and towards ourselves, were we to pass by this opportunity without expressing our appreciation and admiration of the line of conduct which you personally have pursued. In a position of unequalled difficulty, and surrounded by complications of every conceivable nature, you have succeeded in offering to the eyes of the Chinese Empire, no less by your loyal and thoroughly disinterested line of action than by your conspicuous gallantry and talent for organization and command, the example of a foreign officer, serving the government of this country, with honourable fidelity and undeviating self- respect.

{Chinese Gordon: p45.jpg}

"Once more wishing you a prosperous voyage, and a long career of usefulness and success."

Signed, &c.

There is truth in this as applied to Gordon:--

"He strove not for the wealth of fame, From heaven the power that moved him came. And welcome as the mountain air, The voice that bid him do and dare. Onward he bore and battled still With a most firm enduring will, His only hope to win the prize Laid up for him beyond the skies."

The Emperor wished the British Minister to bring before the notice of Her Majesty the Queen of England his appreciation of the splendid services which Gordon had rendered. He hoped that he would be rewarded in England as well as in China for his heroic achievements.

A subsequent letter in the _Times_ said that Prince Kung, who was then the Regent of China, had waited upon Sir Frederick Bruce, and said to him, "You will be astonished to see me again, but I felt I could not allow you to leave without coming to see you about Gordon. We do not know what to do. He will not receive money from us, and we have already given him every honour which it is in the power of the Emperor to bestow; but as these are of little value in his eyes, I have brought you this letter, and I ask you to give it to the Queen of England that she may bestow on him some reward which would be more valuable in his eyes."

Sir Frederick Bruce sent this to London with a letter of his own:--"I enclose translation of a despatch from Prince Kung, containing the decree published by the Emperor, acknowledging the services of Gordon and requesting that Her Majesty's Government be pleased to recognise him. Gordon well deserves the favours of your Majesty for the skill and courage he has shown, his disinterestedness has elevated our national character in the eyes of the Chinese. Not only has he refused any pecuniary reward, but he has spent more than his pay in contributing to the comforts of the officers who served under him, and in assuaging the distress of the starving population whom he relieved from the yoke of their oppressors."

It does not appear that this letter was ever sent to the Queen, or noticed by the Government, and so the heroic deeds of a man of whom any nation might justly be proud, were forgotten.