This book publishes
the complete correspondence, official and otherwise, for and against
Burton, and comprises a review of his Consulship at Damascus from the
time he was appointed, in November, 1869, to the day of his recall, in
August, 1871.
It is impossible to read this correspondence dispassionately without
wondering how it was that Burton was not removed from his post at
Damascus before. In the brief space of two years he seems to have
managed to set against himself almost every creed, nationality, and
interest in Damascus. From the time he went there to the day he was
recalled it was little but one long strife. Complaints to his Consul-
General at Beyrout, to his Ambassador at Constantinople, to his Chief
at the Foreign Office, were incessant; and as they came not from one
part of the community of Damascus only, but from several, it is a marvel
that the authorities at the Foreign Office, who love nothing better than
that things should run, or seem to run, smoothly at the embassies and
consulates, were so patient and long-suffering. That they were so
forbearing was, I think, largely due to his wife--this same Isabel
who, according to Miss Stisted, was responsible for her husband's
recall and the consequent ruin of his official career. It was Isabel
who fought Burton's battles on every charge against him, and she
defended him against every attack. Her letters to Lord Granville,
to Sir Henry Elliot, Ambassador at Constantinople, to the Consul-
General at Beyrout, to Lord Derby and other influential friends in
England, and to the permanent officials at the Foreign Office,
explaining and defending her husband's action in every particular,
are marvels of special pleading.
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