The Progress of the World. 



503 



regard the failure of the Turks against 

 Italy as a direct visitation of Allah 

 against them because they have de- 

 parted from the principles of their 

 forefathers. The disasters of Thrace 

 and Macedonia will only confirm this 

 belief, since it proves beyond question 

 that reliance upon Constitution instead 

 of upon the sword is much less efficient 

 in the cause of Islam than were the 

 ideas of Abdul Hamid. There is, how- 

 ever, a very easy method for this 

 country to assure to herself the Islamic 

 succession, and at the same time to 

 obviate any possibility of danger from 

 amongst her Mohammedan populations. 

 Let Great Britain make a declaration 

 that, by virtue of her position as the 

 greatest Mohammedan Power, and in 

 view of the difficulties now surrounding 

 the Caliph, she will undertake the 

 defence of the sacred Mohammedan 

 cities of Mecca and Medina, and will 

 guarantee them against aggression from 

 all and sundry. The effect of this upon 

 the world of Islam would be stupendous. 

 The risk and responsibility to this 

 country would be practically nothing, 

 as nobody wishes to take Mecca and 

 Medina, and since in guarding Egypt 

 and holding the Suez Canal and Aden 

 we are automatically guarding the 

 Arabian coast of the Red Sea. It is, 

 of course, too much to hope that the 

 British Foreign Office will take so 

 obvious a course, but the fact remains 

 that if it does not Sir Edward Grey 

 will add another to the heavy roll of 

 opportunities lost. It is, of course, of 

 enormous importance to us as a Moham- 

 medan Power that the Mohammedans 

 live quite happily under the Greek 

 Orthodox Church in Bulgaria and 

 Servia, and will, therefore, do so in the 



new provinces, even although in Bosnia 

 and Herzegovina, where they come 

 into contact with the Roman Catholic 

 Austrian Church with its fierce proselyti- 

 sing zeal, they leave the country in great 

 numbers rather than submit to religious 

 persecution. 



The downfall of Turkey 

 The Lesson to ^ud thc uprisiug of the 

 this Country, ncw Europcau Power 



in the shape of the 

 Balkan League have many lessons for 

 the world, but one in especial for this 

 country. The Turks went into the war 

 weak from political dissension, rotted 

 through by corruption, and having 

 completely allowed individual benefit to 

 overshadow national welfare. The 

 Balkan League, on the other hand, is 

 composed of nations where the in- 

 dividual plays a much less vital role, 

 where legislation for the welfare of the 

 nation occupies that prominent position 

 in national development which is here 

 solely consecrated to one or other body 

 of individuals who may succeed in pos- 

 sessing electoral weight. Is not the 

 writing on the v/all clear enough, and 

 dare we ignore it ? As Mr. Winston 

 Churchill said : 



We were fortunate, born under a lucky star and in 

 a good age, and we had no old scores to pay off, no 

 modern enmities to prosecute. We could survey our past 

 without a pang, our future without a grudge, but we 

 must be prepared. We must be ready for all eventuali- 

 ties. It was good to be patient, it was good to be circum- 

 spect, to be peace-loving. But that was not enough. We 

 must be strong. . . . We must so manage our affairs 

 and organise our corporate life that those who came 

 after us should have easier and not harder burdens to 

 bear, that they should have fewer dangers to face, and 

 greater resources to meet those dangers. When we com- 

 pared our fortunate position in the world with that of 

 other people now so desperately struggling, we could 

 not but feel how much we had to be thankful for. It 

 would indeed be shameful if we who had inherited so 

 much, if we who had so much done for us before we came 

 into the world, if we who had started so fair on the path 

 of life, were to leave to our children nothing but bitter 

 memories to avenge and vast misfortunes to retrieve. 



. . . To-day we have a strong, if not 

 an invincible navy, but naval strength 



