, even through the veil, he is ever with."

There is one point on which we ought specially to dwell in considering
the lessons to be learnt from the life of General Gordon, and that is
the _moral_ courage he always exhibited. His physical courage has
already been touched on, but great as it was, his moral courage was far
greater. There are plenty of men possessing physical courage who fail
to exhibit moral courage when put to the test. Man being a gregarious
animal, and accustomed to go in flocks, is led by his fellows to evil
as well as to good. No man can be a true leader of men who is not
prepared to stand alone, if need be, against overwhelming majorities.
Gordon had the courage of his convictions, and no amount of pressure,
no weight of public opinion, could deter him when once the path of duty
was clear. The time-server does not ask, What is right? What is my
duty? but, What will pay? What will public opinion think? For such an
one Gordon had a supreme contempt. It has been well said by Dr. Ryle,
the Bishop of Liverpool, "It is not overwhelming majorities that shake
and influence the world. Small minorities have ever had more influence
than large majorities. All great men have had their seasons of
loneliness. See Napoleon, Mahomet, Luther, John Wesley, and Christ
Himself." To this list we may add the name of General Gordon; few men
so often found themselves so much in opposition in fashionable circles
and in the official world.

* * *

Among the false reports that have been circulated about General Gordon
is one that he was very unsociable and morose, shunning society in
general, and ladies' society in particular. It is true that he shunned
a certain class of society; there was also a certain set of women that
he fought shy of; but it is quite untrue to say that he was unsociable.
He greatly enjoyed the society of ordinary cultivated women, who were
in sympathy with his efforts to do good, and with them he was neither
shy nor reserved. He could talk pleasantly for hours together, and as
his own mind was a very cultivated one, he was a great element of
attraction to society of a certain kind. What he did dislike intensely
was the society of that class of ladies who think of little beyond the
fashions of the day, the latest style of dress, and the newest forms of
amusement. Such persons he used to find had no minds to think, and no
hearts to feel for suffering humanity. Many o