uch a dream as this, and there will be nothing in the
pomp and ceremony of the homage to be paid to him to-morrow morning to
recall him from it. What a contrast it will be to come back from such a
dream of universal dominion, and the triumph of the true faith, to the
discussion of the sixty-first Article of the Treaty of Berlin and the
rights of the Armenians! It is perfectly legitimate for a Caliph to have
such dreams, and perfectly natural for him to prefer to try to realize
them, rather than to give his attention to the reform of his empire; but
without blaming the Caliph we may well doubt whether it is altogether
wise for the Sultan of Turkey to indulge in such dreams.

I believe that it would be better not only for Turkey but for Islam
also, if the Sultan would give up his doubtful title to the Caliphate,
and pass it over to the descendant of the Prophet who is Shereef of
Mecca. As for Turkey, this is the only hope of the empire; and the
experience of the Pope of Rome has made it clear that the loss of
temporal power tends rather to strengthen than to weaken a great
religious organization. There is no inclination in any part of the world
to persecute Mohammedans, or interfere in any way with their faith. Only
a very small minority of them are under the government of the Sultan,
and those who are not enjoy as much religious liberty as those who are.
This is not from fear of the Sultan, but it is in accord with the spirit
of the age, and the manifest interest of other Governments. As a Caliph
cannot by any possibility restore the strength of the Ottoman empire, so
a Sultan of Turkey cannot be the spiritual leader of millions who are
not in any way under his control. I see no reason to suppose that the
transfer of the Caliph to Mecca would in any way weaken the faith of
Moslems or diminish their zeal. Mohammedans in India and in Russia show
no more inclination to abandon their faith than those who reside at
Constantinople under the shadow of the Caliph; on the contrary, there is
more unbelief in Constantinople than there. What is more, there is every
reason to believe that such a transfer would gratify the great majority
of Mohammedans, probably a majority of those living in the Turkish
Empire, certainly all the Arabic-speaking population. In one way or
another this change is sure to come, however it may be resisted by the
Sultan; the very effort that he has made to arouse the spirit of Islam
has made it more apparent