cortège next to the carriage of the Sultan. The reception at the palace was particularly distinguished, and thereafter the relations between the two were intimate and cordial. The Sultan often summoned the minister to the palace, sometimes requesting interviews at the dead of night. All their conversation was through an interpreter, as the Sultan knew no English and General Wallace did not speak French. There was early stamped upon General Wallace an air of authority that went well with the military profession; but later years have softened this into a courtliness and grace of manner wholly charming. The Oriental strain in him has become more and more pronounced, suggesting that the years spent in the study of Eastern history, and his actual contact with Oriental peoples, have emphasized it. Mrs. Wallace (born Susan Arnold Elston) is a native of Crawfordsville. Her father was a pioneer of central Indiana. The homes of his descendants are grouped in Elston Grove, one of the prettiest spots in Crawfordsville. General and Mrs. Wallace were married in 1852, and she is “the wife of my youth,” to whom “Ben Hur” was dedicated. He received so many consolatory letters based on this inscription, which seemed to be misunderstood, that in later editions he changed it, adding “who still abides with me.” Mrs. Wallace began writing at an early age, both prose and verse. She has never collected her poems, though several of them, as “The Patter of Little Feet,” written years ago, are frequently brought to the attention of a new audience by the newspapers. She has printed one book of fiction, “Ginevra” (1887), and three books of travel sketches, “The Storied Sea” (1884); “The Land of the Pueblos” (1888); and “The Repose in Egypt” (1888). Mrs. Wallace has a happy manner of describing places and incidents, and the papers in these volumes show the spontaneity and ease of good letters, and are without the guide-book taint. They were intended, as the author stated in the preface to “The Storied Sea,” for patient, gentle souls seeking rest “from that weariness known in our dear native land as mental culture.” Mrs. Wallace shares her husband’s liking for Eastern subjects, and her Egyptian and Turkish papers, in particular, are delightful reading. II. _Maurice Thompson_