and we may be quite sure that Major Gordon gave this subject
his earnest and prayerful consideration. The path of duty seemed to him
to be clear, and the call was distinct. The whole country was
practically deluged in blood, and not only strong men, but hapless
women and children, were suffering. Could Gordon, knowing what he did,
and feeling conscious of his power to put down the rebellion, have
declined to enter the path so unexpectedly opened to him? Some would
have done so. But opportunities such as this, not seized, are seldom
repeated. His ability, his energies, and his powers might never have
found full scope, and might have proved a curse to him rather than a
blessing. How often one sees in life men with marked ability who are
not only unhappy themselves, but make every one around them equally so.
They seem to have missed the object for which they were created, and
instead of doing their duty in a large sphere, as they might have done,
their stunted energies prevent them from properly filling even a
smaller and humbler sphere. They have missed the opportunity of being
really great, and yet their abilities prevent them from being satisfied
with anything short of this. The call came to Gordon to take his share
in the battle of life, and to do his best to mitigate the sufferings
caused by a horrible civil war, and doubtless he pondered those words,
"He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." He
decided to take the path which appeared to him the one of duty; nor
need we be surprised when we know that he was a thorough Englishman of
the highest type, of whom the words are true--

"There's a heart that leaps with burning glow
The wronged and the weak to defend;
It strikes as soon for a trampled foe
As it does for a soul-bound friend."

CHAPTER IV

GORDON'S FIRST COMMAND

At the age of thirty, Major Gordon obtained his first independent
command, thus surpassing the Duke of Wellington's achievement by four
years. With Wellington, too, able as he showed himself to be, it must
be borne in mind that his first appointment was due to family interest,
for his eldest brother, Lord Mornington, was Viceroy of India at the
time. In Gordon's case, however, personal merit was the only
qualification that brought him to the notice of the General in command,
and it speaks volumes for Sir Charles Staveley's insight into character
that such a wise appointment was made. Sir William