eading newspaper said of him, "General Gordon is without
doubt the finest captain of irregular forces living." About the same
time Mr. Gladstone said of him, "General Gordon is no common man. It is
no exaggeration to say he is a hero. It is no exaggeration to say he is
a Christian hero." Mr. W. E. Forster also remarked of him, "I know no
other man living for whom I have a greater admiration than General
Gordon. He is utterly unselfish. He is regardless of money. He cares
nothing for fame or glory. He cares little for life or death. He is a
deeply religious man. The world to come, and God's government over this,
are to him the greatest of life's realities. True heroism has been said
to be a sacrifice of self for the benefit of others. If this is true,
Gordon has well won the appellation, "The Hero of the Soudan." His
soldierly qualities were first tested in the Crimea, where we find him in
1854 and 1855. Here for the first time in his military career he was
brought face to face with all the horrors of actual war, and here for the
first time he saw friend and foe lie locked like brothers in each other's
arms. Here he got his first baptism of fire; and here he showed the
splendid qualities which in after years made him so famous and so
beloved. An old soldier who served under him during this terrible
campaign says "I shall never forget that remarkable figure and form,
which was an inspiration to all who knew him, and saw him on the field of
carnage and blood."

He was utterly unconcerned in the midst of dangers and death. He would
twirl his cane and good humouredly say "Now boys, don't fear, I see no
danger." On one occasion when engaged in the very thick of a most awful
struggle he said, "Now my boys, I'm your officer, I lead, you follow,"
and he walked literally through a shower of lead and iron with as little
concern apparently, as if he were walking across his own drawing-room;
and he came out of the conflict without a scar.

Sir E. Stanton in his dispatches home, making special reference to our
hero, says--"Young Gordon has attracted the notice of his superiors out
here, not only by his activity, but by his special aptitude for war,
developing itself amid the trenches before Sebastopol, in a personal
knowledge of the enemy's movements, such as no officer has displayed. We
have sent him frequently right up to the Russian entrenchments to find
out what new moves they are making." Amid all the excitem