New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-08-27
WALLACES NEW BOOK.
AN ELABORATE STUDY OF BYZANTINE So
CIETY. AND ITS FALL.


any Importance employed by the byzantine I'm
pirc. which might have furnished hint for zen
eral Walace's new story. Phranza. who figures
here and there 10y name rather than IN person
throughout 1.-The Prince of India was occupied
for n good part of his life in the erdcavOr to bring
aDolt a political marriage for his master Con-
stantine First he tried Venice, then 1rehzond,
then Ceoraia "On his arrival in Georgia or
iberia saws Gibbon, the natives from the towns
and villages focked around the strangers; ana
such was their simplicity that they were Delighted
with the effects, without understanding the cause'
of musical harmony. Among the crowd was al
old man, above a hundred years of age, who lad
formerly been carried away captive by the par
baIians, and who amused his hearers with tale
of the wonders of India, whence he Had r.
turned to Portugal by an unknown sea- Inc
main business of General Wallaces novel turns
upon the appearance Of an aged man VINO 'ao
snent half century in India. OF course. CEN
tenarian in the ordinary condition OF human anairs
would be of little use to novelist except III inc
canacity of a garrulous Ncstor. Put the author
nets over that difficulty in manner not unknown
70 fiction. Though he is certainly far from oiis
;naI In his device. it must be confessed by every
reader that he has shown high artistic Skill IN Ills
Use of it, ,., ,,;oh
II would be a violation of the good faith which
the reviewer should maintain toward hoNehs''
the interest of whose work lies almost eNciusNcH
in the element of surprise, 70 reclte the uie'"o'
adonted bv General Wallace for putting MS AL
tiaue wanderer from Cipango to use Du. "',''
the first step was taken, it is easy 10 see "i"' u"
would make of this parsonage. pam uaNc''
with his mouth full of tales ABOUT uraeons' anu
men who used their feet Tor an un'"'eii" ""'
,hov Law down. could not figure in an elaborate
II ffAn N
derer in these pages takes on the character vi
80. eth active whose wears of travel have maze
h;,, thorourhlv cosmopolitan. He is as much III
hama in Constantnople as in India or IN feKih.
Ono may ne hardened for thinking that Gcherdi
U,u.co has taken some liberties with the history
If literature when he credits this universal genius
with a knowledge of the deepest recesees VI o'"-
W.. I.raturo Rut that is neither here nor
there The books this strange Deln9 quotes u ni'
astonxhed auditors were certainly eAS'eh. III
Ind;., and ca he can he said TO have seen them.
However, there is one point in his literary archa,-
o,opv where General Wallace may have erred. lie
seems to deny to the pundlts Oh IohS'ah'inop,o
Learning which they unquestionablS possessed
His traveller on an occasion OF hish iinpo'' ~
Chu,c and State is represented as quoting largely
from the biography of the Buddha Now' ul'h
fresh from India would doubtless bring up many
audience in the fourteenth century But some d,
,o.s. of the miracles related of BodhisattFa hau
,o, hoen familiar 10 the Greek world as those Oh
n, Indian Prince and the book III whlch they were
told is still to be read. Perverted as the wolh VI
John of Damascus was, compared say WIZ" ~
"Talita Vistara., the Greek churchmen VINO haa
1a :. or lno,v of its contents would not have
listened in open-mouthed astonishment to new
tersion of the same material. ,. ,o.,,
put this Wanderer Of General Waliaces oooA
is really mastery imPrsonauon o. man M
whom good and evil by turns WORK wi,h ''o a."
uo.t mower. After his study OF the mo'lohieSs
society Of India, where most OF the prooiehns ~
nbiIosonbie and religious speculation were 'hous"t
ont aces ago. he turns back to the West full Oh
ona ;deo He would like to reform the worih anu
IN mite all religions under one creed-a creci th't
can In EXPRESSED in a single word Ihner 'lr
gpise of n devout Moslem he watches the VIII
fapaticism Of the pilgrims in Mecca. As s""nso
prince OF polished manners ana easy pe"ii"s' ~, W..
guest Of Constantine, he witnesses 'he ciu"i'
brutal fanaticsm of the Byzantine MONKS. ihcS7
things make him doubt the possibility OF ear'Si'.
ont his plan Nevertheless he takes advantage oi
the Emperor's protection to explain his no'oh Vi
what world religion shoJld be before an auaiehce
composed of the most Intelligent ccceslaSics VI
.hn court and city Shall we wonder that he
Der how many councils OF reverend bishops nave
ended in hair-pulng and fstcuils? But zen
eral Wallaces satire goes further. BY the use
NJ other characters he shows how not even
simple creed quoted directly from the New le'ta-
ment would satisfy the stormy orthodoxy OF uhe
Greek Church. Nevertheless a partisan OF that
Church will be likely to say that In his ailusioh
10 the memorable disputes with Rome, General
Wallace has leaned rather heavily on authorities
of the Latin Church.
It was not his failure as an apostle that turned
all thoughts Of good in the mind of the Indian
Prince TO evil Indeed, at the very time when he
was urging his religious reformation upon the
minds of the Byzantines, he was plotting as an
alternative tie capture Of COnstantnople by the
Turks For ext to his world religion, his highest
aspiration was for the victory Of the East over
the West And just at the moment when he was
smarting under the contempt of the monks and
was learning the impossibility Of making fanatics
whether in Islam or Christendom listen to reason,
there came reaction to paganism which Dhndly
made him its chief victim Against the tyranny
of the Church, the wild youth of CONSTANT
nople raised the banner of Epicurus, not with the
aims really cherished BY that much maligncd
sage, but with the sole thought of vicious self
indulgence. Maddened by the loss of loved one
of course the story must not be told here-he |
leaves mark of his resentment in a trail of fire
across the city, and is soon deep in astrological
calculations with the Turkish Sultan His |
shrewd advice it is which gives the siege e the
great capital success.
By this method General Wallace has made nearly
all the great religions Of the world play their part
in the downfall of the Eastern Empire. And he
has done this dramatically There Is doctrinal |
argument in the hook there are even downright |
sermons but all these play such direct part in |
the story that most readers will be apt to read
them without skipping paragraph. OF course
there is a great deal of the pageantry in which he
tates delight II would be useless TO 30 into the ,
minutiae of costume and ceremony But single |
reading of the book indicates that he has here |
taken more than usual pains to be correct on these