f neither a corner-stone, a
voussoir nor a capital, it has at least its place in the edifice which
forms the literary history of the nineteenth century. Beyond that value
it has merit as the simple record of a life enriched by the charms of
poetry and elegant taste and the social and domestic charities.

Turkey. By James Baker, M.A., Lieutenant-Colonel Auxiliary
Forces, formerly Eighth Hussars. New York: Henry Holt & Co.

The announcement of this book as "a companion volume to Wallace's
_Russia_" provokes a comparison greatly to its disadvantage. The
qualities most conspicuous in Mr. Wallace's work, thoroughness of
exposition, skillful arrangement, breadth of view and mastery of
details, are wholly wanting in Colonel Baker's _Turkey_. The information
which it gives from the author's personal observation is fragmentary and
disappointing; the matter gleaned from other sources is chiefly
surplusage; the expressions of opinion indicate positiveness rather than
keen insight or impartial judgment; and, what renders the contrast still
more striking, the book as evidently owes its dimensions, if not its
existence, to the immediate interest of the subject as Mr. Wallace's
work was the slowly-ripened fruit of long and patient study, and its
opportune appearance a fortuitous advantage that added little to its
attractiveness. It is, however, no ground for condemning a book that it
has been written to supply information for which there is a present
demand; and if Colonel Baker had confined himself to telling us what he
knew, and his publishers had refrained from exciting undue expectations,
the contribution might have been accepted thankfully for what it was
worth, without special complaint in regard to its deficiencies. About
half the book is readable, and this includes some portions which,
besides being interesting, derive a special value from the author's
qualifications for speaking authoritatively on the points discussed in
them. He traveled somewhat extensively in Bulgaria; he purchased and
cultivated an estate in the neighborhood of Salonica, and was thus
brought into those relations of landlord, employer and taxpayer which
entail a certain familiarity with the workings of the administrative
machinery and with the habits and feelings of the rural population; and,
finally, as a soldier, he writes with full comprehension and
intelligence on the military resources of the country and the prospects
of the war which was