s
Letters from the Crimea," etc., as it records a somewhat more
deliberate opinion on his character and career:--

"28 HYDE PARK PLACE,
"MARBLE ARCH, W., _27th July 1884_.

"DEAR SIR,--I indeed feel greatly obliged to you for your
kindness in sending me a copy of 'General Gordon's Letters from
the Crimea.'

"Already I have read a great part of the volume, and I need
hardly say that, apart from the reasons which link me to the
Crimea, I have been greatly interested by seeing what was
thought, and felt, and expressed in his early days by this really
phenomenal man, whose romantic elevation above all that is base
and common has made him, in even these days, a sort of warlike
and heroic Redeemer.

"Your Preface well and ably expresses an opinion that is widely
entertained as to the conduct of our Government towards Gordon,
and I don't know enough of the question to be able to gainsay
your conclusion, but it would seem at first glance that,
considering the imperative reasons, the vast distances, the
changeful condition of things, and the consequent changes of
mind, the task of doing justice between the Government and this
heroic envoy would be one of some complexity. With my repeated
thanks,--I remain, dear sir, very truly yours,

"A. W. KINGLAKE."

Ten days after the repulse at the Redan, Lord Raglan, the gallant
soldier over whose bier Pelissier wept like a child, died "of wear and
tear and general debility," as Gordon put it, and the siege again
entered upon another dull and uninteresting stage. Nearly three
months were to elapse before the capture of the fortress that had
resisted so long, and the only incident of marked importance during
that period was the battle of the Tchernaya, in which the officers in
the trenches had no part. In that action the last effort of the
Russian commanders to relieve the place and extricate Todleben from
his peril was repulsed by the whole allied forces, for in this
engagement both the Italians and Turks took part, with a loss of seven
or eight thousand men. The only comment Gordon makes on the action is
that "the Sardinians behaved very well." At last, on 8th September, a
second general assault was delivered, the English again attacking the
Redan, and, more fortunate in one s