The sun., 1891-07-10
Revolt OF Arabs Against Turks.

Tho revolt In Yemen-the ill-deflned re-
kion forming the southwestern part Of the
Arabian peninsula, and the seat Of the pre-
historic Axiomitio civilizauon-is an inter-
sstlng movement, and may have more i'm
portant consequences than are as yet gen.
orally looked for. Should the insurrection
spread easterly into the Hadramut and
Oman, and northerly into the Hedjaz and
Nejd, IL might mean general uprising Of
the tribes Of the peninsula, with which the
mortbund Ottoman authority might prove
Incompetent to cope.
Except by PALaRAvE, OL1PHANT. and a
few other f1rst-hand observers Of the real
etete Of things in western Asia, the fact has
been unnoticed that not even by the Rus
slams are the Turks more hated than they
are by the Arabs. The antipathy is rooted
in profound differences OF race, OF natural
aptitudes. and Of history. The Arab is Of the
pureet Semitic strain; the Turk Of what, for
lack OF a moro definite term, we call Tura-
nian stock, though even over that classifica-
tion there have been thrown some doubts.
The Turk Ia first cousin to the Hun, and
the advent OF the Seljukian and, later.
the Ottoman hordes in Mesopotamia, Syria.
and Anatolia was regarded by the Arabs,
who had assimiated the Persian and
Hellenistic civilizations. very much as
was the inroad Of ATT1LA by the Ro-
manized provinces Of western Europe.
Tho Arab had reason to view the Turk
not only as an alien interloper, but as saw
age virtually irreclaimable.
Events have justified the contempt and de-
testation with which MoHAMMED's fellow
countrymen surveyed the Tartar invaders.
The Arab had destroyed nothing; had pre-
served nearly every thing; had improved
much. For CtesiDhon he had substituted
Bagdad; in the place OF Antioch lie put Da-
mascus. He founded other splendid capi-
tails, at Cordova and Granada. at Fez, Mt
Xairouan and Cairo. He evinced n reluarka-
bic capacity for poetry. for history, for met
ephysics. for astronomy for chemistry
and for medicine. Cut Off by the prescrip-
tions OF his religion from the pictorial
or plastic 0fepreseptations OF the human
form, he achieved remarkable triumphs
In architecture and decorative arts. The
Turk, ON the other hand, is nothing but
soldier with an extraordinary aptitude for
discipline. He has constructed nothing but
o military organization; his path is marked
by ruin and by solitude; he has conserved
scarcely anything OF the civilizations that
have succumbcd to him. He will not even
take the trouble to plant tree; the arid
wastes OF Anatola bear witness to his desc
lating track. n ever a race upon the earth
had cause to abhor it's conquerors. and de-
served the compassion Of onlookers, ii is tho
Arabs who ohce were masters from tho
Black Sea to the Indian Ocean and from the
Mediterranean TO tho Bosporus.
The rancor OF the Arabs is not allayed by
the fact that their Turkish dominators are
converts to Islam. Although the stolid Turk
is nominally orthodox. he Is regarded with
more scorn and suspicion by the quick
witted, speculative Arab than is even the
Persian Shiite. The claim OF the Ottoman
Sultan to figure as the orthodox Caliph, tho
representative OF the Abbassld little has oo-
tained, at most. in Mecca only contrmptuous
toleration. The learned in Mo:lem law
maintain that the last legal holder of the
Abbassid title could not transfer 1t to Sultan
6HLIA after tho latters conquest of Egypt
because the office OF tho Prophets vicar wus
not transmissible by bequest. However that
may be, 1t Is by military force alone. and not
ut all through spiritual authority. that the
Turkish rule over tho Arabs Of Syria and OF
the great Arabian peninsula Is at present
supported.
Whether In their hour Of decadence the
Ottoman resources would. without tho
assistance OF some European power, DO
adequate to suppress general Arab in
surrectlon, 10. to say the least. improba-
ble. 1t is true that tho Arabs would be
weak In artillery; but. on the other hand,
they have the best cavalry In the world. and
there is reason to believe that In collective
uprising they could put in the field no fewer
than half million warriors. This estimate
= based On the assumption that after the
lapse Of . thousand relatively peaceful