And lastly, it is no isolated body, but remains
in close communication with the mass of its fellow-believers throughout
the world. The Mohammedan population of India is, therefore, an
exceptional as well as a large one.
Our second interest in Mohammedanism lies in Egypt. Here, standing at
the threshold of our commerce with the East, we find another large
community almost wholly Mussulman, for whose well-being we are already
to a certain extent pledged, and in whose political future we perceive
our own to be involved. A hostile Egypt we rightly hold to be an
impossibility for our position; and religious antagonism at Cairo, even
if controlled by military occupation, would be to us a constant menace.
Nor must it be supposed that Egypt, like the Barbary coast, will, into
whose hands soever it falls, change its religious aspect. The population
of the Delta is too industrious, too sober, and content with too little,
to fear competition as agriculturists with either Italians, Greeks, or
Maltese; and the conditions of life under a torrid sun will always
protect Egypt from becoming an European colony. The towns may, indeed,
be overrun by foreigners, but the heart of the country will remain
unchanged, and, like India, will refuse to remodel itself on any foreign
system of civilization.
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