5 MAY 1894, Page 25

The Prince of India. By Lew. Wallace. 2 vols. (Osgood,

Mcllvaine, and Co.)—" Why Constantinople Fell" is the sub- title of General Wallace's new story. This will indicate the scene and the time. The " Prince" is no less a personage than the Wandering Jew,—a difficult being to manage in fiction. That General Wallace has altogether succeeded in his task we can hardly say ; but it is certain that he has brought to the execution of it a careful study of the accessories and a very considerable literary talent. The circumstances of the Byzantine's life within the walls of Constantinople and of the Turkish Court without, are given with great vivacity of narration, and with much elaboration of detail. The character of Mahommed the Conqueror is finely drawn, and the final agony of the Empire of the East is full of power. Still we return with incredulity, and something of the dislike that incredulity brings with it, to the central figure.