ns. Of the latter, two died at an early age, and only the
youngest, William Henry, born in 1786, survived to manhood. He is
especially interesting to us, because he was the father of General
Gordon.

Like his father and grandfather, William Henry Gordon chose the
profession of a soldier, and entered the Royal Artillery. He saw a
great deal of active service, being with his corps in the Peninsula
and at Maida, commanding at a later period the Artillery at Corfu and
Gibraltar, and attaining before his death in 1865 the rank of
Lieutenant-General. He was also connected with the Woolwich Arsenal as
Director of the Carriage Department. He has been described as an
excellent officer if a somewhat strict disciplinarian, and his firm
character of noble integrity lived again in his sons. He married, in
1817, Elizabeth, the daughter of Samuel Enderby, a merchant whaler,
one of those west country worthies who carried on the traditions of
Elizabeth to the age of Victoria. It would not be possible to present
a complete picture of Gordon's mother, and therefore none will be
attempted here; but all the available evidence agrees in describing
her as a paragon of women, and as having exercised an exceptional
influence over her children. Gordon himself bore the most expressive
testimony to her virtues and memory when, long years afterwards, he
closed an exordium on the filial affection due to a mother with the
outburst--"Oh! how my mother loved me!"

Such in brief were the forebears of the hero who comes next after
Nelson in national veneration. To understand him and his career, it
must be remembered that he came of a gallant race, with a quick sense
of honour, seeing clearly the obvious course of duty, and never
hesitating in its fulfilment. These qualities were not peculiar to the
man, but inherited from his race, and as they had never been
contaminated by the pursuit of wealth in any form, they retained the
pristine vigour and fire of a chivalrous and noble age. What was
personal and peculiar to Charles Gordon had to be evolved by
circumstance and the important occurrences with which it was his lot
to be associated throughout his military and public career, but his
soldierly talent and virtue must be mainly assigned to the traditions
and practice of his ancestors.

Of the five sons of General William Henry Gordon and Elizabeth
Enderby, Charles George Gordon was the fourth. His eldest brother,
Henry William Gordon, born in 1818, had