can hardly recede towards others among them,
so that it is impossible she should really work in active antagonism to
them. As Christians, Englishmen may regret this; but as practical men,
they would surely be wise to recognize the fact, and to accept the
duties it entails. Nor can these be discharged by a mere policy of
inaction. England should be prepared to do more than assert a general
doctrine of tolerance and equality for all religions in respect of this
one. Mohammedanism is not merely an opinion; a certain political
organization is a condition of its existence, and a certain geographical
latitude; and, moreover, it is a force which cannot remain
neutral--which will be either a friend or a foe. To do nothing for
Mussulmans in the next ten years will be to take cause against them. The
circumstances of their case do not admit of indifference, and they are
approaching a crisis in which they will, on two points at least, require
vigorous political protection. Their Caliphate in some form of temporal
sovereignty, though perhaps not of empire, will have to be maintained;
and short of securing this to them, and their free access as pilgrims to
Mecca, it will be idle to pretend to Mussulmans that we are protecting
their interests, or doing any part of our sovereign duty towards them.
It can hardly be argued that the Indian doctrine of religious equality
will suffer from doing political justice to Mohammedans.

On the downfall, therefore, of the Ottoman Empire, whenever that event
shall occur, the _role_ of England in regard to Islam seems plainly
marked out. The Caliphate--no longer an empire, but still an independent
sovereignty--must be taken under British protection, and publicly
guaranteed its political existence, undisturbed by further aggression
from Europe. On the Bosphorus no such guarantee can now be reasonably
given, because there it lies in a position militarily indefensible.
England is a naval power, and the seat of the Caliphate must be one
secured from all attack by land. It will then be for Mohammedans, and
especially for the Mohammedans of India, to decide upon the new
metropolis of their faith, the conditions of their choice lying within
the narrow limits of their still independent lands. If Syria be still
free, that metropolis may be Damascus; if Irak, Bagdad; or it may be in
Egypt, or Arabia, or Central Asia.

It is manifest, however, that as far as British protection against
Europe is concerned, the