TO SHIFT HER THRONE TO PALESTINE
In the North American Review for August, in an editorial, speaking of the failure of Turkey to carry the Mohammedan world with her into the war on the side of Germany, Mr. Harvey says: "Whatever may be the political fate of the Turkish Empire, it may be regarded as certain that its spiritual hegemony of the Mohammedan world is gone forever. The first clash between the Christian powers of Europe and the Mohammedans of Asia arose over the control by the latter of Jerusalem and the other holy places of Christendom; though that was before the rise of the Ottoman tribe, and it was with the Seljuks that the Crusaders battled. It is an interesting coincidence that this latest clash involves the control of the holy places of the Mohammedans, and that it is likely to result in a permanent transfer of that control from the hands of the Turks to the hands of the Arabs. 'It is kismet,' and it is peculiarly fitting that it should be so. For while the doctrine of kismet is characteristic of the entire Mohammedan faith, it is the Ottoman Turks alone who have exaggerated it into an excuse for political inefficiency and decadence. Islam will doubtless continue to exist, but the Ottoman sultan will not be its caliph. It will not be surprising to see the seat of supreme authority shifted from the shore of the Bosporus to the shore of the Red Sea, and to see the birthplace of Mohammedanism become once more its capital."