The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-21
length to breathe freely after the burn
ing heat Of the uuontilC.
EIEENE EANATICISM

religious fanaticism of the Spaniard |
has, more than once, come into con- !
uirt with a fauatiCism fully as fierce, /
that uf the Mussulmau. At a distance |
of 5000 leagues from Toledo and Gran |
ada. the same ancient hatreds have |
brought European Spaniard and Ash /
attic -araccn into the same relentless
antaIlnism that sWayCd them In the .
days of the Cid and Ferdinand the !
Catholic The island of Sulu, ON aC- |
count of its position between Minda- |
mao and Burncu, was the commercial, .
political, ana religious centre of the
followers of the Prophet. the Mecca Of
the extreme orient. From this centre
they spread over the ncighboring
urohipclagocs. Dreaded as mcrCilcss
pirates and uniliuChing fanatics, they
scattered everywhere terror, ruin ana
death. sailing i'm their light prOas up
the narrow channels and animated
with implacablc hatred for those con-
qupring invaders, to whom they never
gave quarter ana from whom they
never expected it, constantly beaten in
pitched battle. they as constantly took
again to the sea, uluding the pursuit
of the heavy Spanish vessels, taking
refuge i'm bays and creeks where no
one could follow them, pillaging iso-
lated ships, surprising the villages,
massucrniug the old men. leading away
the women and the adults into slavery,
pushing the audaciuus prows of their
stins even up To- within 800 miles of
Manila, and sci2ing every year nearly
1000 captNos.
Between the Malay Creese and the
Castililn carrOnade the struggle was
unequal but it did not last the less
long uu that account, nor, obscure
though it was, was it the less bloody.
ON both sides there was the same
bravery, the same cruelty. 1t required
all the tcuucity of Spain to purge these
seas of the pirates who infested them,
and it was not until after q conflict
of several years, i'm 1876, that the span
ish squadron was able 20 bring its
Iroadsidrs to bear on Tianggi that
nest Of the Suluan pirates, land di-
vision OF troops, invest all the outlets,
and bum up the town and its inhabi-
tauts, as well as the harhor and all
the craft within ii. The soldiers plant
ed their ilag and the engineers built
a new city ON the smoking ruins This
city Is protected by strong garrison.
For Il time, at least, it was all over
with piracy, but not with Moslem fan
atheism, which was cXasporatCd rather
than crushed by its defeat. TO the
rovers of the seas succeeded the or
ganzation known as juramentados.
enc of tn, characteristic qualities of
tha Malays is their contempt of death.
They have transmitted it, with their
hlrod, to the Polynosians, who see in it
only one Of the multiple phenomena
ana not the supreme act of existence
and witness II or submit To ii with pro-
found Indifference. Travellers have Of
ten seen a CanuqU, etretch his body on
a mat while i'm perfect health, and
without any symptom of disease what
ever, aud there wait patiently for the
cId, convinced that it IS near, ana re-
| fuse all nuur.shmcut and die without
any apparent suffering. His relatives
say of him: "jic feels he is going 10
! tio.' ana The imaginary patient dies,
: his mind posscsscd by some illusion,
some suporstitiotls idea. some invisible
! wound through which life escapes.
| When to this absolute indifference TO
death is united Mussulman fanatcism,
! Whl"h gives to the believer a glimpse
! OF the gatoS of paradise where the
! aDuormally excited senses rcvcl in end
| less and numberlcss onioymcnts. a
! longing for extinction takes hold Of him
ana throws him like a wild beast on his
! enemies; he stabs them and gladly in
| vi,cs their daggcrs in return. The ju-
ramvntddo Kills for the sake of killing
! ond cling killed, ana so winning, in eX-
change for life of suffering and pri-
| vatiun, tho vuluptuous existence prom
| isgi hy Mahumct to his followers.