New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-07-25
APABI IND THE CALIPH.

House of Gilman 1t ia whispered among the
Constantinople Pachas that the Arabian adj
venturer has threatened to depose Aodui
Hamid and to proclaim the Shereef OF Mecca as
Caliph. 1t seems almost incredible that tils
menace should have taken the form OF al III
timatum to be enforced If the Sultan should
venture to accept the invitation OF the towers
and to send troops to the Nile. 1t Is proDaoie,
however. that secret dread OF an ARABIAN
rival has been one of the motives which has
shaped Abdul Hamid's diplomatic lntrlgues
with Arab. The Egyptian negotiations nave
given him momentary prominence in Europe,
and his vanity is touched. Naturally he would
like to regain the power which his house once
exercised on the Nile. If he could suppress
the revolt. cut of the heads of Arab and the
Colonies, depose Tewfik as an English sover-
eign, and proclaim Hahn as khedlve with the
secret aid of France and the acquiescence OF
Europe, he would assert his authority III the
Ottoman Empire even if he should not succeed
in pillaging the Egyptian treasury. why,
then, has he persstenty refused to intervene
in Cairo with a strong hand9 His hesitation
and timorOusness cannot be Adequately eA-
planned unless the contingencies of Holy war
and a revolt against the Sovereign OF tho Otto-
mans are taken into account
The Sultan, who is ut once the sovereign OF
sc, 900, 600 subjects and in some senses of the
word Pope of the Moslem world, knows that
both the sovereignty and the sanctlty oil the
House of Gilman are lightly esteemed AT
Mecca. The Arab has never accepted the IRA
diton of the armed caste which has dominated
the Mosem Empire. 1t is only the Turk that
believes that with Gilman Islam must iall.
The followers OF Mabomet who within the
generation following his death conquered
Arabia, Syria, Egypt and Persia were oil Ara
bian stock and it was not until the MuS5ulman
world comprised n large section OF ASIA, the
whole northern coast Of Africa and southern
Spain that the Arabian Caliphs prepared the
WAY for their own overthrow in hiring the
Turks from the Tartar district tn do their hight
ing for them. But the tradition that sovereign
ty should revert to the old line of Koreish has
been cherished in Mecca. The Mehdi, or
Messianic teacher, whose advent the plous Nus
snlmans of the deserts are confidently expecting
in the darkest hour of their religion, Is an Arab,
not a Turk The date of his appearance us not
pretieured in definite prophecies, although No
vember of the present year has been named by
certain schools but there is general agree
ment among believers in the outlying Mnssul-
man world, which is not swayed by Ottoman
influence, that Mecca is the quarter whence he
will come, and that his mission may involve
the overthrow of the House of Gilman
Now it would be idle to assume from hls pro-
CARNATIONS to the Egyptians or from his letter
to Mr.. Gladstone that Arab has either the dis
position or the resources which so hazardous
an appeal to fauaticism would require. 1t
would be even more futile to follow the far
reaching range of possibilities which Mus
SULLIVAN revival under Arabian auspices would
involve The consequences would be moment
Gus even if the Egyptian rebel should shrink
from prOclaiming an Arab Caliph as rival to
the sovereign OF the Ottomans, and yet venture
TO summon all faithful Mussulmans to Holy
War against tho infdel foreigner. 1t cannot
be questioned that the Sutan's influence over
the Mahofnetan world would be seriously
impaired, and that the position OF England In
Mussulman india az well as in Egypt, and that
of France along the whole coast OF Northern
Africa. would be rendered far moro hazardous
than at present. Unintellgible tho evil
dences of the so-called Pan lslamic movement
have BEEN there is reason to believe that OWING
tn the conquest of Tunis and the threatened
invasion of Egypt the Mussuman population is
in that state of suppressed excitement which
tends to prone te an infectious fanatjcism.
Arab as the champion Of Egyptian nationality
is an insignificant figure, for Orientals have
only the faintest conception of the meaning
Of nationality. Arab as the leader in Holy
War, bidding defiance to infdels and looking
toward Mecca IN expectation OF prophetic
| Mehdi if not an Arabian Sovereign may be
a commanding presence in the imaginative
Mussulman world. But these conjectures,
alluring as they may be to the elastic fancy of
newspaper correspondents i'll the Orient, can
not be seriously entertained as matters now
stand. Our present purpose has been served
if We have shown that the Sultan has reason
for dreading the ascendancy which Arab has
acquired as an aggressive and defiant Mussul-
man and for watching with intentness and I'M
easiness the bulletins from Mecca