here. The Mohammedan world is looking for the coming of the
Mehdy. The time appointed by many traditions for his appearance has
already come, the year of the Hedjira 1300. Other traditions, however,
fix no definite time--they only say "towards the end of the world," and
many impostors have already appeared at different times and places
claiming to be the Mehdy. According to Shiite tradition, it is the
twelfth Imam of the race of Ali who is to appear. At the age of twelve
he was lost in a cave, where he still lives, awaiting his time.
According to the Sunnis, the _Mehdy_ is to come from Heaven with 360
celestial spirits, to purify Islam and convert the world. He will be a
perfect Caliph, and will rule over all nations.

It is impossible for any Christian to speak with absolute certainty of
the real feeling of Mohammedans; but it is evident that this expected
Mehdy is talked of by Mohammedans everywhere, and that there is more or
less faith in his speedy appearance. No one who anticipates his coming,
can have any interest in the claims of the Sultan to be the Caliph.
Should any one appear to fulfil the demands of the tradition, and meet
with success in rousing any part of the Mohammedan world, the excitement
would become intense, especially in Africa and Arabia. The claims of the
Sultan would be repudiated at once. Still I think it probable that too
much has been made of this Mehdy in Europe. I do not think that the
Pachas of Constantinople have any more faith in his coming than Mr.
Herbert Spencer has in the second coming of Christ. They only fear that
some impostor may take advantage of the tradition to create division in
the empire. This is the real danger.

It has been evident for many years that the Sultans have felt that their
influence in the Mohammedan world was declining. They have seen that
beyond their own dominions the Caliph has no real authority; that
whatever influence they have depends upon the strength of their own
empire. Abd-ul-Medjid and Abd-ul-Aziz seem to have had a pretty clear
conception of their weakness, and of the necessity of restoring the
vitality of the Ottoman empire, by the introduction of radical reforms.
There is no reason to suppose that the Hatt-i-houmayoun and the other
innumerable Hatts issued by these Sultans, were all intended simply to
blind the eyes of Europe. None knew better than they that the empire
must be reformed or lost. But they were Caliphs as well as Sultans, and
what