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PROGRESS OF THE SELJUKS. 25 It was in the early stage of their liistory that the Scljnkian The seijn- Turks embraced Mosleniisni. The fierce northern Sriice Ma- energy of these ^isiatic warriors became at once iired hometauisiu. ^^,j|.|j j-eligious fanaticism, and their history contin- ues to be, for a considerable time, an almost unbroken scries of triumphs. Seljuk was succeeded by his grandson, Togrul, who was filled with fervor for his faith. After the conquest of any city his first care was to build a mosque, and it was onl}' after the sacred building was completed that he ventured to lay the foundations of a palace. He extended the dominion of the Seljuk Turks eastward, southward, and westward. lie made himself ruler of Persia. He inflicted upon Christendom a serious blow in the conquest of Iberia, the modern Georgia, and in the partial destruction of Armenia, which had hitherto existed as the first barrier of Christendom against the inroads of Asiatic races. Armenia had been invaded by tacks Aime- the Scljuks or by other Turks as early as 1016, and from that time was the object of a series of attacks. The invaders, though often defeated, were as continually re- inforced by new emigrants, tempted by the rich rewards to be obtained by the sack of wealthy cities and the plunder of comparatively civilized provinces. The city of Arsen was sensualism. . . . The Mahommedan religion is found in the traditions more than in the Koran. The multitude know little of the Koran except through tradition : this is sensualistic in the extreme ; it is untranslatably vile." It would be easy to multiply testimony to show how completely sensuality lias saturated the Ottoman Turks. Their ordinary language in anger is sufficient evidence to those who hear it. The Hon. Mrs. Digby, •who died recently in Damascus, and who had had better opportunities, perhaps, than any other English woman of knowing what harem life is, spoke to me of the sensuality among the more resj^ectable classes as be- ing indescribably great, though an even more striking feature of such life, according to her, was its utter iml^ecility and childishness. In " Harem Life in Egypt and Constantinople," by Emmeline Lott (4th edition), the writer says : " Their conversation (that is, of the ladies in a royal harem) invariably touched upon things which in Europe are re- garded as criminal, abominably indecent, filthy, and disgusting." Our own consular reports give abundant evidence that the Ottoman Turks arc dying out rapidly from natural causes.