It is by no means uncommon to find that those who are eager about the spread of spiritual truths among professing Christians, are also keenly alive to the importance of mission work among non-Christian people. Gordon was a remarkable instance of this happy combination. The chapter that deals with his life in Palestine gives an insight into this part of his character, but a few words will not be out of place here to show his opinion on this subject in other countries. He had a very high ideal of what a missionary should be, and a supreme contempt for bad missionaries. He was on the whole fortunate in the class of men he came across in Palestine, the Soudan, and South Africa. In the first of these two places the missionaries belonged to the Church Missionary Society, an organisation with which he was much in sympathy. But he also met men of other societies, and his large-hearted sympathies went out to them too. He was a great admirer of Livingstone, and spoke of him with much respect and affection. The spirit of heroism which has characterised so many of our missionaries attracted him greatly. "Do not send lukewarms," he once wrote to Mr. Wright, the Honorary Secretary of the Church Missionary Society; and one of the first things he did at Gravesend was to support the Moravian Missions by becoming their local treasurer. Later on in Africa he writes, "How refreshing it is to hear of the missionary efforts made in these countries." We may not quite agree with all that Gordon said on the subject of foreign missions, and some may think that the standard he set up was too high for frail human nature to aim at. Moreover, recent events in Uganda, and elsewhere, may have shown us that good work can be done by men who fall far short of Gordon's standard. Nevertheless, we cannot but feel that he was himself, in the truest sense of the word, a missionary, and that the Earl of Harrowby did not at all exaggerate the truth when he said about Gordon, after his death:-- "I believe that one effect of that man's example was to lift up a noble standard for the cross in a way that no professional missionary could have lifted it up, and to oblige devotees of pleasure and people who had thought but little of such things to acknowledge the power of the Gospel. Many who saw him and spoke to him could not understand him. It was to them a marvellous sight to witness, and I feel that we can hardly be grateful enough to that great man for the infinite benefits which he has bestowed upon us as friends of missions."