General Gordon's Memorial, Southampton

I made a point of calling at Southampton’s Gordon Memorial last month, despite the baking, evening sun. General Gordon was a Victorian, British governor of Sudan whose job was to evacuate civilians and those loyal to Britain in the wake of Muhammad Ahmad and his army, better known as the Mahdi, a false Islamic messiah.

Rather than flee, the general disobeyed Prime Minister William Gladstone’s brief, and held out. Contrary to the government’s initial wishes, a relief force was sent to Khartoum to relieve him, but the great Gordon had already been murdered two days before they arrived. The British public was outraged and the Grand Old Man of 10 Downing Street was increasingly known as the Murderer of Gordon, instead. The man was a committed Christian, so his bloody departure from earth was followed by a glorious reception in heaven.

I was struck by the irony that in that little park in which his memorial stood, mine was the only white face among the two dozen present. Judging by clothing and speech, I was the only Christian and non-Muslim. The monument to the British General killed by enraged and fanatical Muslims was now itself surrounded by folk associating with that religion. Quite what the good general would think if he could see Mother England now, I cannot tell.

Looking back on the incident in 1901, The Times wrote of him as "that solitary figure holding aloft the flag of England in the face of the dark hordes of Islam". Such language would not be used today, but its point has not dimmed. Although only a  few care to remember the General now, we will find that he remains more, not less, relevant to us who live in twenty-first-century Britain. 

When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory: but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. Proverbs 28:12

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