| Show EGYPT AND THE EASTERN eastern QUESTION THE ehe political problem known in europe as the eastern question comes up once more to perplex the great powers in connection with the war in egypt and tha the attitude or turkey in 14 this crisis tho tha empire of rusala russia figures prominently in this grave question tho the policy of the czars azars hos hoa bean for centuries in the direction of territorial acau acquisitions 1 1 sitio bitio sit bit ions noy nog by which turkey should disappear from the tho map of europe giving russia rusia a es sa aboard on tho the south and british rule rula ba crippled and reduced in india ludia giving russia extended asiatic dominion the bombardment of alexandria now in progress pio pro grese which has opened the way for more important campli a not enter directly into the eastern question but it is impossible to dissociate it turkey tarkey having a suzerainty over egypt cannot bo be client while the tho 2111 british st h guns are hurling shot and shell into linto a its govern ment and protection md and being too weak of itself to offen offer r any forcible resist nce nee to british british encroachments encroach ments must look for allian alliances cesin in other directions ions in order to do anything more than feebly remonstrate the course which england will pursue then on subduing and occupy occupying dg egypt must necessarily touch upon the turkish question and lead lewd to the opening up of the whole oriental difficulty the movements of the great groat bear of the north must bo taken into consideration in viewing the uhe present position of affairs in the old world DO it is only seven months since by treaty with persia perila the russian boundary was so changed as to legal ize and confirm muscovite possession of territory formerly included in the persian dominions and to provide for the construction of wagon roads for commercial purposes and railroads for general convenience which in may ay be easily utilized for the trans por tation of troops and military and give russia a clear path to teheran from which an easy advance may bo be made to herat the key hoy to india the treaty has only come to light quite recently and is very important in its bearings on the eastern question within three years the shah agrees to connect desht a port in the caspian son sea and teheran the persian the czar agrees to complete completo a railroad from tiflis to which la Is to be continued to tabriz and thence to teheran wagon roads are alzo alao to ba be constructed ted into railroads are nearing cor coi completion in iri the rus bus elan PrOvin provinces cesin in the Batou bagoum on the black sea to tiflis and from that point to baku babu on the caspian sea and it is easy to perceive that russia will soon eoon grasp the commerce of persia diverting it from england ragland and thus insinuate that political influence which ac companies the commercial ascendancy of powerful nations the intimate relations ions lons of the shah and the czar aro are quite significant when viewed in the light of these movements towards the east and of the fact that ayoub rhan khan han ban the claimant to the throne of f afghanistan Is now living at teheran a pensioner pen fen bloner eloner on the bounty of persia it ia is evident that tha the course of russia 1 f la Is steadily in the direction of herat and Can Cand shar dahar to cabool i the afghanistan capital while these interesting steps are being taken in the east turkey is in danger from internal commotions and these are the more formidable bechum they are of a religious character the influence of the sultan is greater as the saw spiritual tuai head of the moslems than as the temporal in ral rai ruler of the ottoman empire and it is in ja this character that he jae is likely to be materially weakened both noth the pastern and vestern western branches ol 01 the faith of islam look 1001 for the coming of christ who ia Is to be preceded by the mehdi a messiah a great reformer who ig a to lead the madans back into the pure faith and into freedom from the power of the 11 the mehdi according to mohammedan tradition Is to come from either elther ItherIa bulka buika or la bulsa and each of these places Is described in their books as its A great city with 2000 rates sates and 2000 gate keepers one however Is in the Ea east stand and the other in the west 11 eomme borne F look for the mehdi as a or renovator who Is to effect his reform by peaceful exhortations others hold that he will exhortations others hold that he will be a sahib i rhou Khou low lop or one who abandons his allegations to the ruling powers howera in order to initiate re form by the sword the vast majority of moslems look for this more violent method of reform according to the writings tings tinga the M adi is to appear in the first month of Mohar rem la in the year of the hegira 1300 he e is to be exactly forty years of age of noble bearing though one arm will be longer than the other ho he is to have the same name as the great prophet and his father is also to be called mohammed and his mother fatima and it is written miswritten that dighe he will wih be hidden for a tima time prior to his hia manifestation the per Fer persian slann blahn branch which is looked upon as s heretical by western moslems believes that the medhi is already on earth and is somewhere secreted and from more western soun sour sources cesco comes the news that the description crip tion ot of the expected mehal is I 1 ex netly actis fulfilled in the person of mohammed the son eon of sidi hldi mohammed Es him himself selta selfa a moslem re former whose doctrines mado made a great stir thirty years ago particularly in northern africa and now have followers in every direction from morocco to mecca who have over seven hundred churches Seno emissaries are now selves in stamboul Stani boul with discussions with the bleik el eti islam arid the ulemas upon intricate theological points the practical outcome of which is that the moslems object must be to combat christian ideas and christian innovations and must employ all possible means to chech check chec further christian advances into the dar ol islam 33 the date of the christian che stfan era which corresponds with the mohammedan ham chronology in th the e above named predict prediction lon ion concerning inythe the mehdi mehal is nov kov 12 1882 the near approach of the time for the appearance of this expected leader is causing much agitation and should the person named come forth and be received by the mo hamm edans the spiritual power of the sultan would be overturned and his temporal sovereignty would very soon cease there ia la another dource of difficulty which is deserving of some attention it is quite probable that in the event of any serious disturbance in the affairs of the sublime porte the ibe ehlers chiefs of and hedjazi would revolt and establish reestablish re the 13 all ali phate of the arabs the grand of mecca would be the kaliph rallph the position of shareef ia Is within the appointment of the sultan suitan but the occupant must be a descendant of the prophet the present incumbent gained the place by intrigue and as ia is believed by inciting the assassination of rubbein hussein rup hup rein who wiga became ob noxious to the sultan huss russ husseini eins brother the sheik bounel oun el refik should have succeeded him and the sheik bears bearb be ars arb the sultan no good feelings for the blight slight of his rejection now this same buu is in continuous communication with arbi pasha at present head ing the outbreak in egypt and it is understood that the topic of their intercourse is the present movement in expectation of the moslem Me silah bilah altogether prospects ame are heavy for complications in the orient and it Is not at all unlikely that in a short time great changes will be effected bearing upon the lution solution eo of the long debated eastern question the gathering of the jews to palestine la Is one factor and it is certain that all that tra but fulfill fulfil tho the bay say ings of the prophets and nit fit il t into tho the designs of the almighty ty to be consummate consummated a in the tho coming of the son of man whose right it la is to reign over the th e whole earth |
