n period, while he had done well all that he was called
upon to do, and had completely outstripped his peers, showing himself,
in his professional capacity, to be a head and shoulders above his
fellows, there were nevertheless latent powers within him, which had
not yet been called into play. Who can study his life without being
convinced that he had a power with God, in later life, that he did not
possess earlier? Christ said, "I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men
unto Me." He was lifted up before Gordon's eyes, and there was a
distinctive response to the magnetic influence of the Cross; and, as in
the laws of magnetism, the instrument that has been charged can in its
turn charge metal brought into contact with it, so in the life of
Gordon we see, that not only had the Redeemer a distinct influence on
his whole nature, but that he was himself so charged with Divine love,
that he was able to exert a magnetic influence over others.
Ecclesiastics may fight and wrangle about names and terms; we have to
deal with facts. It matters little by what name we call it, the fact
remains that a distinct spiritual change came over Gordon, leaving him
a man who had power with God. But though the effect of this change in
Gordon's life was most marked, it is not so obvious when it took place.
As a boy and a cadet he was full of animal spirits, and somewhat given
to practical joking; but, though not a religious boy, he never was bad
in the ordinary acceptation of the term. After he had obtained his
commission, before he went out to the Crimea, there were distinct
indications of a feeling after God, and some have affirmed that this
was brought about through the influence of his mother. That good
mothers are blessed by God as the means of conveying spiritual light to
their boys, is a fact so frequently evident, that writers and others
are often led to assume it must always be the case. Now, though Gordon
possessed an excellent mother, of whom he was very fond, and who in
later years became a true Christian, as a matter of fact in early life
she was somewhat worldly. She was always a remarkably clever and
sensible woman, but in the matter of religion she never attempted to
influence her son. Whatever of spiritual good there was in him, was
therefore not due to her. That he had great affection for her is clear,
even if there were no other evidence, from a letter written during her
illness in October 1873, when he was abroad, to his sister,