[Page 249], line 3, after “indulgence” add “Their bravery and fearlessness of death in the field of battle frequently noticed, is, as has been remarked, not surprising when we consider that every sincere Moslem is assured that, if he falls in battle, fighting for the true faith, he is immediately admitted into paradise—a paradise, too, exactly suited to his taste. Some other religious give a similar assurance, but then there is the fear of some dread purgatory to pass through! This assurance formerly made the Moslem armies almost invincible, but now if, as many think, their soldiers are no longer unanimously inspired with the old strong faith and zeal, they will probably prove less formidable warriors in the future.”
⁂ Had the rapidly rising excitement about Turkish affairs been foreseen, some of the foregoing pages would not have been published in so “off-hand” a style, or without some corroborative evidence—not because they are untrue or were then unwarranted; but simply because, to some readers who do not observe their date, they may seem very uncalled for, and the presumptuous attempt of a non-literary pen to enter the lists in a great controversy in which the ablest minds and pens on both sides will be employed. So, to strengthen and confirm the several assertions he has made regarding Turkish oppressions and misrule and their causes, he begs reference to “Palgrave’s Arabia,” Macmillan, 1866.[18] That book he has not seen till now, and is gratified to find how very much that great work agrees with this little tourist book, confirming its views especially on that subject, most amply; and perhaps no one has had better means of observation than this accomplished English Traveller and Eastern Linguist.
