Civil War general and author Lew Wallace left the governorship of the New Mexico territory in 1881, but not to retire to domesticity. President James Garfield had read Wallace’s Ben-Hur shortly after its 1880 publication and became convinced that the author had a deep understanding of the eastern Mediterranean. Garfield appointed the author to be U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople.
The story goes that after his formal introduction to the Turkish Sultan, Wallace extended his hand to shake. The courtiers were aghast; no one touched the Sultan, much less a Christian. The Sultan, however, when he understood Wallace’s gesture, took his hand, and the two developed a close relationship.
Besides his diplomatic duties, Wallace toured the Holy Land. He had described it in Ben-Hur only from research, but he felt that his representations stood up to the first-hand observations and changed nothing in subsequent editions of the book. He toured parts of the Ottoman empire and drew upon these travels for his book The Prince of India; or Why Constantinople Fell, which he published in 1893 and thought his best novel.
The election of Grover Cleveland ended Wallace’s diplomatic career in 1885. The Sultan supposedly wished for Wallace to work for the Ottoman empire, but Wallace, still in his fifties, returned to Crawfordsville where he lived for the rest of his life.
He constructed a study outside his Indiana home. At first it was surrounded by a moat, which was stocked so that he could fish from it. He later filled it in because he thought it endangered children. It still stands now as the Lew Wallace Study and Museum, where his painting of the Lincoln conspirators is hung.
The remarkable man continued to write, publishing several more books, but he also displayed another talent later in his life — that of inventor. He obtained eight patents, including one for a travel fishing rod and reel. He died in 1905 working on his autobiography, which his wife finished after his death.
And now I have finally read his most noted accomplishment, Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. Well, not every word of it. Wallace’s research shows itself in the novel through many lengthy descriptions of such things as galley ships, stadiums, customs, and geography. These sometimes go on for pages and pages. I confess that I skimmed many of those as well as the long descriptive paragraphs that introduced each character. (Wallace certainly did not believe the advice given by the successful writer to the fledgling one in Who Is Maud Dixon? by Alexandra Andrews: “You only need to give one or two details about a character’s physical appearance. It’s all the reader needs to build an image in her mind. Anything more is a distraction.)
The subtitle may indicate that Jesus is a central figure in the book, but that is not so. We read of his birth (in a cave, and he is not laid in a manger) that draws on the Bible, and we encounter him as a youth, but he then disappears until he emerges again near the end of the lengthy book. Mostly, the book reads like a typical nineteenth century adventure story, although it is better written than others I have read.
The plot in brief: The princely, Jewish Judah Ben-Hur is sent off as a slave to galley ships after he almost kills a Roman governor accidentally. His family estate is confiscated. His mother and sister are imprisoned and catch leprosy. Ben-Hur miraculously escapes from a galley ship during a battle. He saves a rich Roman, who adopts him. He trains to be a warrior and charioteer. He cripples a hated Roman in the famous chariot scene. Perhaps this book is ultimately about love and forgiveness, but if so, only after Ben-Hur exacts revenge on those who wrecked his and his family’s lives. Of course, there are two beautiful women, one of whom the readers know is not a good person — not the right one for Judah — while, of course, the other beauty is.
Eventually, Judah begins to follow Jesus as Jesus begins his public ministry. Judah at first believes Jesus will become a king who will overthrow the hated Romans. Gradually, however, Ben-Hur realizes that Jesus is offering a paradise not of this earth. We can breathe a sigh of relief that Judah ends up with beautiful, virtuous Esther and that with his riches, because of his new faith, he does good works.
Although it sounds like something planted by a modern public relations flack to sell books, it is said that Lew Wallace found his faith in writing the book. It did not have the same effect on me. However, while most of the book seemed a cut above ordinary, the description of the crucifixion, which follows the Bible closely, was both moving and powerful.
So…Lew Wallace, writer, illustrator, general, governor, diplomat, and inventor. A full life and a legacy that lives on in Ben-Hur.
