Baylerbay ; or, Strangers in Turkey. By Lieutenant-Colonel J. C.
Fife-Cookson. 2 vols. (Chapman and Hall.)—One Henry Thirl- well, an ex-Guardsman, finding himself in shallow water through the failure of his father, seeks a commission in the Turkish service, and we learn how such commissions were got in the last war. He joins the army of Suleiman Pasha, and we thus get an idea of how the Turks carried on war ; and the idea is not a favourable one, at least as regards the energy of the Generals in command. We have also the author's views about the Eastern Question, about Pan-Slavonio schemes, and other kindred matters. He considerately prefixes to the chapters in which these subjects are discussed a notification that they may be omitted by readers not interested in them. To our thinking, they are the best part of the book. The author knows, it is clear, what he is talking about, and his opinions, whether we accept them or not, are worth listening to. If we were to skip anything, it would rather be the love-story. Major Thirlwell falls in love with a young lady who is going out as a hospital nurse. A curate at home to whom she had inconsiderately engaged herself is cleared out of the way ; the major is opportunely wounded, and as opportunely nursed, and all things end well.
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