Philip Hitti: in his earliest works

I have told you before that Philip Hitti changed and evolved over time.  He was quite a staunch Syrian nationalist (with a tinge or more of prejudice against Arabs in his earliest works) and was keen on pleasing and guiding the White Man in his dealing with Arabs and Muslims.  Take his book The Syrians in America, which was published in 1924.  He insists in the books that "Syrians are not Arabs" (p. 19) and then makes this observation: "The Syrians spoke Aramaic throughout the greater part of their history, and their adoption of the Arabic tongue is a comparatively recent event, being subsequent to the rise of Islam and the Arab invasion."  I remember the first time I read this sentence years ago, how I burst out laughing because by recent he means "centuries ago".  It still cracks me up to this day.  He later in the book (the conclusion) offers suggestions and guidelines to American Christians on how best to handle Syrian Christians.  He urged that American saviors "help them shift the emphasis from conventional religion to ethical living". (p. 122).