Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-09-21

be longer than the other. His fathers
name will be Mohammed, and his mothers
name Fatima, and he will be hidden for
time prior to his manifestation"
The old Senoussi's name was Moham-
med, and persons who have seen the
younger remember that his right hand
reached as far as his knee. During the
last four years the power of this great con-
fraternity has increased until its influence
has become controlling all through North
Africa. The neighboring tribes take the
name of Maraboutin, and pay no tribute.
The great zaouia of the Libyan desert is en-
larged and adorned, and the Senoussia
look anxiously for the day when FL Mehdi
shall fulfill a second prophecy of reigning
from a L to (which they interpret as
meaning from Tangier to Tripoli in Syria
the much-longed-f Arab empire of the
future. s
Ell Mehdi has however not waited for the
twelfth of November to manifest himself.
Possibly he found matters in the in
terror ripe sooner than he anticipated.
Possibly events were precipitated by the
Egyptian crisis. Be that as itmay, he
appeared at the head of an army a few
months ago at Darfur,and, marching upon
the upper Nile, he utterly defeated the
Egyptian general who, at the head of two
thousand men went out to meet him. He
then advanced VIGOROUSLY upon Khartoum,
the capital of the province, and, according
to the last accounts, defeated Ziegler
Pasha, the governor, German officer,
who vainly attempted to oppose his pro-
gress. Making himself master of Khar-
toum, he now thgeatents to advance down
the Nile and participate in the conflict,
which is impending in Lower, Egypt. Arab,
on the other hand, has announced
that in the event of his being defeated
he will lay Cairo in ashes and
march up the Nile to meet Ell Mehdi, with
whom he is in communication by means
Of the emissaries who keep the zaouias all
through Arabic Islam informed of his
movements, and in the late letter addressed
by him to Mr.. Gladstone, and which Mr..
Wilfred Blunt forwarded to that gentleman,
since published in the newspapers, he de-
clares his power and his determination to
spread the flame of religious fanaticism
from the Atlantic to India, So ~e---} "a.
Meantime in the Turkish. papers pub
lished in this city Ell Mehdi is always called
The False Prophet;' but though that may
be the view taken of him by the Moslems
in European Turkey, it remains to be seen
how far it will be adopted by the rest of
Islam. No doubt much will depend upon
his success, and upon the sanction he re-
ceiVes from the mosque of Ell Azhar in Cairo
from the spiritual authorities in Mecca and
from the various colleges of Ulemas
scattered throughout the East. Much, too,
will depend upon the attitude of the Turk
ish government. If the sultan were to
issue proclamation denouncing Arab as
a rebel, and to land his army in Egypt,
cordially to cooperate with English troops,
all Islam would probably rally around Ell
Mehdl, while if he were to defy Christen-
dom and ally himself to Arab, he might
still find Ell Mehdi useful ally.
Under any circumstances, it is not i'm
possible that this mysterious parsonage
may play an important part in the coming
drama. What influence he possesses in
Arabia cannot as yet be definitely ascer-
tanned. At present that portion of Asia
is the center of intrigues, of which some
say the object is to declare the present
grand cherif of Mecca, Abdul Mantahib,
caliph. This high functionary is lineally
qualified to occupy this exalted position, and
enjoys immense spiritual authority, while
his ambition in spite of his advanced age
he is 49, is as unbounded as his loyalty
to the sultan is questionable. Others say
that the Arabs have elected as their future
caliph a certain Cheriff-ed- deem, also of the
Koreysh tribe, and OF direct descent. He
has been living in seclusion for many years
in Bombay, but is now the head of the in
surrectionary movement in the Hedjaz,
where the celebrated chief Ibh Raschid is
the controlling spirit. s~c-54
What relations these interesting person
nages may maintain with the new Moslem
Messiah, or what Importance they may at
tach to his claims, the near future will
probably disclose; but this slight sketch
of the forces at work in Islam is enough to
show that a defeat of Arab by British
troops means practically nothing, so far as
the main question is concerned. What has
come clearly out of the Egyptian imbroglio
is this, that a discomfort has been steadily
growing throughout Islam for the last half
century at the steady encroachments of
western civilization upon its domain, at
tho successive defeats of the Ottoman
forces, and the loss of Moslem territory to
the Giaour, at the constantly increasing
subserviency of the Turkish caliph to the
will of Europe, and at the influence which
follows European capital and commercial
enterprise as it penetrates into the recesses
of Islam, and undermines the belief and
nodifes the habits and customs of the
faithful. The Egyptian question was
merely the drop that made the cup of in
dignation run over. 1t was the spark that
set fire to the magazine. Islam has deter
mined, if the sultan will not champion it,
to choose another champion. And the de-
cisivc moment has now arrived
when his profession of devotion
to the Pan-Islamic idea, which
events forced the sultan to make three
years ago, will be tested. If he espouses
the cause of the religious and military
party in Egypt, good and well. He may
be accepted by Islam, but his rejection by
Europe will be inevitable, and involve the
disruption of Turkey, and probably a
European war. If he clings to Europe it
will cause split in Islam, and the same
result will arrive from the East which in
the other case, would have overtaken Tur-
key from the west.
AS it is, the only question which the con-
ference at Constantinople will settle will
he that Of its own imDotapce aDd tho only,