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GORDON, Charles George (1833-1885). 'Chinese Gordon'. Autograph Letter Signed to Geigler (probably Carl Christian Geigler), 4 pages 8vo on thin paper (as usual), Singapore, 29 August 1880. Written on Gordon's return from a brief return visit to China following his resignation as Lord Ripon's private secretary in India, berating him for supposedly having given £250 to the Missionaries, and commenting on China, etc. 'Your letters ... reached me at Hong Kong as I was leaving China. ... I am afraid I have forgotten the Soudan to some extent. ... I gave Felkin and Wilson [Robert Felkin was a missionary] 50£ each when they came home, I was sorry for the poor devils, who were fêted and treated well, but did not have one £ given them except by me! Sorry to hear what you say about Gessi [Romolo Gessi, a former Italian interpreter on Gordon's staff in the Sudan], the lust of money is the root of all evil. ... Carl Christian Geigler, the director of telegraphs at Khartoum, was a German 'whom Gordon held in high esteem' (Charley Gordon, by Charles Chevenix Trench, 1978, p.135). [No: 25900] The first image is of the last page. The image links to a larger or more detailed version. |
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