realise that their forebears have left to them an inalienable patrimony
of art, of architecture and exquisite refinement; and that, by their
negligence, one of those towns which used to be the most beautiful in
the world is falling into ruin and about to perish?

And nevertheless amongst the young Moslems and Copts now leaving
the schools there are so many of distinguished mind and superior
intelligence! When I see the things that are here, see them with
the fresh eyes of a stranger, landed but yesterday upon this soil,
impregnated with the glory of antiquity, I want to cry out to them, with
a frankness that is brutal perhaps, but with a profound sympathy:

"Bestir yourselves before it is too late. Defend yourselves against
this disintegrating invasion--not by force, be it understood, not by
inhospitality or ill-humour--but by disdaining this Occidental rubbish,
this last year's frippery by which you are inundated. Try to preserve
not only your traditions and your admirable Arab language, but also
the grace and mystery that used to characterise your town, the refined
luxury of your dwelling-houses. It is not a question now of a poet's
fancy; your national dignity is at stake. You are _Orientals_--I
pronounce respectfully that word, which implies a whole past of early
civilisation, of unmingled greatness--but in a few years, unless you are
on your guard, you will have become mere Levantine brokers, exclusively
preoccupied with the price of land and the rise in cotton."



CHAPTER III

THE MOSQUES OF CAIRO