El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-08-12

the examples of Saracenic archi-
lecture that remain in Spain to
recall to the traveller in this country
the period in which the followers Of
the prophet swarmed over the Iberian
peninsula, and penetrated beyond the
Pyrenees, many inanimate objects
serve TO center the attention of the
Christian upon the inanimate condition
of the Moslem religion at the present
time as compared to it's militancy be-
tween the landing OF Harik Ell Tuerto
at Gibraltar, and the crushing of the
Arab-Moors under amir Abdu-r-rah-
man by Charles Martel and his Franks
upon the fields of Touraine
At El-Azhar, the Moslem university
in Cairo which was once the center OF
learning of the world, the Koran now
constitutes the major part of the cur
riculunl, students learn religious texts
by rote and dream of the intellectual
conquest Of the world by Islam This
institution, which is now about 1000
years old, had not been founded when
the Moslems Invaded the section of Eu-
rope that is now France, with the hope
of pushing their conquests to the North
sea, and making for the Crescent a
conquest of the world by the scimitar.
The Turning on rae Tide.
No event of world history was more
dramatic, and more significant ethni-
cally considered, than the turning back
OF the Arab-Moors by the Christians
under the grandfather Of Charlemagne
The battle of Tours was the triumph
OF the Indo-Germanic race over the Sc
mitic race, as well as the beginning
of the advance of the cross into terri
tory that had been wrested from the
Christians by armies ordered into the
field by the khalif at Damascus, to
OVerthr0W fho Gothic n Sna1n
who. in their turn. had crossed the Py
renees to rout the decadent Romans
from the scenes of their earlier con-
quest of the Celtiberians.
Into the valley of the Loire, where
Goths and Franks had fought a mighty
battle that resulted in the Arian creed
giving way before the Cath
olics. the Moslems had made their tri-
umphal march from Syria to the At
lantic coast Of Africa while their
brethren in the east were pushing
their way down the Indian peninsula
to overthrow Hindu temples on the
banks of the sacred Gauges, and build
mosques in the holy city of Benares.
Many Evidences I'm Spain.
The traveller who visits France to-
day has nothing but volumes of history
compiled from the works of the Ara
bian and Christian chroniclers to re-
iHliu uliii tudI d mighty 1OFCc Oh ARABS
and Berbers once contended with
Frankish army where the city OF
Tours, with its great Gothic cathedral,
now stands. But in Spain there remain
many evidences of the epic advance
of the Moslems that was terminated at
the confluence of the Cher and the
Loire in battle that lasted a week
and was marked by frightful carnage.
Before the Crescent received It's coup
10 L.,
had extended their dominions 1000
miles from Gibraltar. Another 1000
miles would have taken them to the
confines of Poland and the highlands
of Scotland, the western limits of the
known world at that time. Had they
possessed the strength to accomplish
this feat the world might hare seen
Momammedans praying in London with
their faces toward Mecca, while their
brothers desecrated Hindu temples in
Bengal
In the opinion Of a great historian
the Koran is not now taught in Oxford
because the genius OF one man res
cued Christendom from a crushing ca
lamity, and not because the Rhine was
more impossible than the Nile or the
Euphrates, or the mouth of the Thames
inaccessible to the prows of Arabian ,
ships. But it was in reality the vigor
coupled with their hatred
Of Mohammedans and love Of their own
faith, that made the Frankish cavalry |
appear to the Mosleins ''as il frozen to- |
gether and bristlfng with STEEL
Had Charles Marte1 not lived the |
Arab advance would have been checked /
by its impact against immovable le- /
gions or hardy and helmeted men Of |
the north. Toughened by constant war
% ~
Of the rigors of their climate, the Ger
mans and Franks were totally unlike /
the Goths of Spain who were overcome
by the invaders when they had been
by luxurious Irving and the
effects of sunny skies.
Superior Race Wins.
The Arabs were turned back not be-
cause Charles Martel was the only
man who was their superior but be-
that has never given ground before
Africans or Asiatics, although its rep
resentatives. glutted with spoils and
by inaction, have sometimes
lone so in distant lands.
But whatever the cause, and histo-
rams disagree upon this point the
-fctory Of Charles Martel at Tours
marked the beginning of the decline
II the MQslem power in Europe. The
~ oSSlo was not merely between TWO
armies. or two generals, but between
wo races, two colors, two continents
The white man was victorious over the
brown man. Europe was victorious
over Africa. The test of strength
anne when the conquering Arabs met
n its primitive strength the Caucasion
ace they had hitherto encountered
'nly where idleness and Ill living had
apped the vigor and thinned its fight
ng blood.
1t was only after the magnificent
'harge of the Arabian light cavalry
cross the continent of Africa and into
he heart of Europe had been stopped
" meeting an immovable body of
rafned European cavalry clad in STEEL
hat the Moslem empire in Spain be-
anne solidified.
Spain became Khalifate, with Cor
oTa as its capital, only to demonstrate
he fact that the Arab advance pros
cred only when 1t was advancing So
ong as there was a common ambition
mong the Africans and Asiatics who
omposed the people known in his
DRY as the Arab Moors they made
ommon cause. But when they were /;
10 longer welded together in an ef-
ort to devastate the country of the