he
horror of victory except a defeat;" and such men as Sir Henry Havelock,
Sir Hope Grant, Sir Henry Lawrence, and the heroic General Lee of
America, used expressions of similar purport. Gordon was a living
illustration of the saying that "the gentlest men are ever the bravest
when enlightened consciousness tells them that they have a just cause
to support."

Gordon's courage was unquestioned, but, though he possessed more
natural courage than most men, he never made a wanton display of it
merely with a view of impressing others. In China he exposed himself
almost recklessly, in order to encourage his officers and men; but in
the Soudan, where he felt so much depended on his life, he carefully
refrained from exposing himself, though it must at times have been a
great trial to him to see his men so badly handled by their leaders.

It is not unnatural that, in the case of the death of a man like
General Gordon, people should like to know his views on that event
which must in due course happen to all of us, unless our Lord Himself
shall come to terminate this dispensation. Apparently he sometimes
wished for this, though he did not appear to think the Second Advent
near at hand. In one of his letters he says:--

"I wish, I wish the King would come again and put things right on
earth; but His coming is far off, for the whole world must long for
Him ere He comes, and I really believe that there are but very,
very few who would wish Him to appear, for to do so is to desire
death, and how few do this! Not that we really ever die: we only
change our sheaths."

But though he longed for the return of the Heavenly Bridegroom during
his life, he also looked upon death as a welcome release from the
trials and troubles of life. He frequently alluded to this subject, and
dozens of extracts might be made from his letters, all more or less
similar to the two following, which were written at different dates:--

"I would that all could look on death as a cheerful friend, who
takes us from a world of trial to our true home. All our sorrows
come from a forgetfulness of this great truth. I desire to look on
the departure of my friends as a promotion to another and a higher
sphere, as I do believe that to be the case with _all_.

"Any one, to whom God gives to be much with Him, cannot even suffer
a pang at death. For what is death to a believer? It is a closer
approach to Him, whom