The Twelve Years' Reign of Abdul Hamid II. By the
Princess Annie de Lusignan. (S. Low and Co.)—It seems to us that the writer has been somewhat too close an onlooker to see much of the fun, or at least to appraise it at its proper significance. The Princess has dwelt in Turkey, and has great knowledge of Turkish life and rule ; but she has rather lost the sense of com- parison, and in consequence makes some extravagant statements. She is, in fact, too violent and hasty a partisan to be depended upon for presenting cool opinions. She protests a great horror for commonplaces, but frequently uses them herself. At the same time, her style is vigorous and vivid, and remarkably clear in its statement of facts, but is too apt to run into comparatives, and, in the case of Abdul Hamid, grotesque laudation. This somewhat wearying repetition of praise may be deserved, but it is unneces- sary, and distorts the real value of Turkish reform as much as the sneering innuendoes depreciate the value of her own work. Never- theless, the writer puts her own ease with vigour and some just- ness. We would not recommend its perusal unless a similar attention should be paid to other statements of the case.
Previous page
