usalem,
and his fee and expenses would have been very high. The missionaries
agreed to consult General Gordon about drawing up the plans for the
house, but were afraid of presuming too much on his kindness. When the
deputation from them arrived, he cut them short in their apology. "I
know what you want; you want a contribution," said he. When told that
they wanted something much more valuable, he was delighted, and seizing
a pencil and paper wrote down exactly all they needed in the way of
accommodation. He set to work, and before the day was over he had drawn
up admirable plans and calculations. The mission-house was built on
those plans, and his estimate proved to be almost exactly the cost of
the building. He said to Mr. Hall:--

"You thought that I should be annoyed at being asked to draw out
plans for a mission-house. If there is anything that I can do for
the cause of missions I am delighted to do it. What did I come to
Jaffa for? Did I not tell you at Haifa that if you could give me
some work to do for the Lord, that would set my mind at rest? I was
restless because I had been shutting myself up in Palestine, and
had not been putting out my powers for service in the Lord's work."

There are among Christian people some who take a deep interest in the
spread of the Gospel at home, but do not exhibit the same interest in
the spread of Christianity abroad, and _vice versa_. During Gordon's
stay at Gravesend he showed what a real interest he took in home
mission work, and in his letters he frequently used to say that he
should like to end his days working in the east end of London. The time
he spent among the missionaries in Palestine shows that he took an
equally deep interest in foreign missions, and before leaving that
country he wrote, in reference to a conference of missionaries that was
about to be held at Gaza, "I should like to go down there and meet the
brethren who assemble; it may be the last time that I can have any
intercourse with a number of missionaries."

On the 15th October 1883 General Gordon received a telegram from the
King of the Belgians, asking him to go to Central Africa to govern the
territory that had been acquired by the International Association. The
King had once before pressed him to join this movement, which had for
its object the opening up of Africa to trade and civilisation, and the
consequent abolition of slavery and cruelty. Mr. H. M. Stanley was at
t