so consistently communicated to the novel, would be lost in any play founded upon its incidents. He declined all offers until, in 1899, a plan was submitted which met his approval, and in the fall of that year the play was given its first presentation at New York. When President Garfield appointed General Wallace minister to Turkey, he wrote across his commission “Ben Hur.” General Wallace called at the White House, just before leaving for his post, to pay his respects to the President, and Garfield said to him: “I expect another book from you. Your official duties will not be so onerous that you cannot write it. Make the scene Constantinople.” The opportunity thus presented for further literary work was a consideration in accepting the post. The Turkish occupation of Constantinople is an incident of great historical importance, and in his search for material for a new romance, General Wallace determined to write a tale that should present a picture of the fierce struggle between Christian and Moslem. His studies at Constantinople led to the writing of “The Prince of India.” The Prince is “The Wandering Jew.” He appears as a man of mysterious gifts, who wields great wealth and power. He has discovered what he believes to be common ground upon which all the spiritually minded may meet, irrespective of religion. He appears before the Emperor Constantine and presents his plan for a universal religious union, but he horrifies the theologians, and finding the Christians unsympathetic, he turns to Mohammed, and bestows upon him the sword of Solomon, the sign of conquest, which he had found in the tomb of Hiram, King of Tyre. The tale has neither the interest of “Ben Hur” nor the novelty and military ardor of “The Fair God.” The subject required deliberate treatment, and the hero, who is a scholar and a mystic, naturally deals in words oftener than in actions. General Wallace’s other writings are “The Boyhood of Christ” (1889), and “The Wooing of Malkatoon: a Turkish Tale, with Commodus, a Play” (1898), both in blank verse.