None of them hadbeen of the wilderness; but their
lives were after a pattern.
With the coming of the Turks this happiness became
a dream. Turkish rule was gendarmerule, and Turkish political theory as crude as its
practice.
The Arabs, thelargest alien component of Turkey,
must first be dealt with.
Semites had no half-tones in their register of
vision.
And are all these volunteers for theHoly War? Left
alone, they did nothing, or perhaps sat dully onthe ground.
The burden fell heaviest onthe poor villages, and
each year made these poor villages yet morepoor. He found luxury inabnegation,
renunciation, self restraint.
In the end matters passed off well, though the
irony of the review wasterrible. Indeed, we found them just kept chopping-blocks of
theircommanders viler passions. They had performed real service inpreserving
something of a classical past for a mediaeval future. The desert Arab found no
joylike the joy of voluntarily holding back. He made nakedness of the mindas
sensuous as nakedness of the body.
By the merefact of his rebellion the Sherif had
closed these two fantasticchapters of history.
It was not possible to say where Clayton was and
was not,and how much really belonged to him. The rule wastransferred to new men,
with agility and suppleness to stoop tomachinery.
Their convictions were by instinct,their activities
intuitional.
The British left his coast open
tospecially-regulated food vessels. Arabs mightonly serve the State by sacrifice of
their racial characteristics.
CHAPTER VThe position of the Sherif of Mecca had
long been anomalous. The least morbid of peoples, they had accepted the gift of
Meunquestioningly, as axiomatic. The pilgrimage ceased,and with it the revenues and
business of the Holy Cities. He had neverbeen either evangelist or
proselyte.
Jemal would send for Feisal and take him to the
hanging of his Syrianfriends. He was calm, detached,clear-sighted, of unconscious
courage in assuming responsibility.
The British left his coast open
tospecially-regulated food vessels.