New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-07-14
FOREIGN LITERATURE.
PUBLICATIONS IN ENGLAND.

BNIAnsp by TUPPER-A NARRATIVE 10 bE
PUBLISHED BY VI. RoCHEFORr.
IRON THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TIE TRrBUNE'l
LONDON June 27.-"CampaIgnIng on the Oxus
and the Fall of Khiva," Mr.. MacGahan's much ex-
pected book, was published last week by Messrs.
Sampson Low & Co.. in a handsome octave. Literally
and well illustrated. 1t has had warm welcome,
which il fully deserves. The real difficulty of the
task which Mr.. MacGahan undertook will now, l
think for the first time be fully appreciated by the
reader of his lucid and animated narrative. Few adj
ventures more exciting than that ride across the
desert in search of Kaufmann chased by party OF
Cossacks, arrested by Russian Colonel, MS
life every minute in peril from 1urco-
mans or savages of some kind, and from
starvation and thirst He might be eX-
cused for Dragging little, but he does not. what
strikes you all through is the great modeSty OF inc
writer. He is forced to speak OF himself, but he
does it in precisely the tone he speaks Oh others OF
rather with manifest effort not to give himself an
the credit he is entitled to- He knows how to tell
story and has decided turn for description " hat
he has to relate is to the last degree uncommon. The
people, the country the incidents are all OF an eX-
traordnary character vet you never get an impress
sion that the author is drawing long bow or DONG
ANYTHING but irving to relate what he saw ana heard
in a simple straightforward way. As he was the only
European or American civilian who succeeded Ill ac-
companying the Russian forces or In entering hlNa
and is therefore i'll great part from cOhtradlc
ton the honesty of his narrative Is all the more
credtabe to him. 1t is no slight thing to inspire
confidence in such circumstances. Mr.. MacGahan
does it, and take him to be man of entire SIN
ceritv of character, well very brave and sln-
rularv resolute one. As to the latter point, read
| his account of escaping from Col. Weimarns
/ Al. l.
| self How many men do you know who would have
done that For one | answer, not many. lie had
! every excuse for giving up the task on which The
! Herald sent him. He had already rislled his life
over and over again. He was positively forbidden
| to 90 forward He was likely to be shot down if
caurht in the act Of leaving the camp. II he got
awav his peril increased at every STEP His horses
| were exhausted His followers mutinied His pro-
| visions had given ont. Water could only be had at
wells far apart and the site of which could only be
| Guessed at. Where Kaufman, whom he wanted to
ion .was neither he nor anybody else knew, but 1t
was almost certain that hostile forces lay between
| him and any one approaching from the RUSSIAN
| side If he reached Kaufman he was likely to be
| arrested. Seldom has any man set forth on more
| unpromisng venture, look at II how you VIII;
| seldom, indeed, has any man faced danger ana
death tod privation, and disgrace. all at once,
|
has right to be proud of such an achievement in
lis service and all of to be proud that our profess
sion offers examples of work noble in its way as
| ANYTHING the profession of arms can boast Of Mr..
MacGalan's description of the campaign is also to
he praised as clear aud sufficiently military, nor Is
this part Of the book lacking in adventure and eX-
! plot As whole the book is an admirable example
Of the literature of travel not merely readable, bat
stirring and full of interest of many various kinds
With that rapid naturalization of foreign genius
which is becoming every day more marked, we find
! the same publishers already bringing ont an English
! version of Berthold Aucrbach's new novel, "Wald-
! fried" A friend who had read it in Ms wrote me,
| some time ago. that it was Auerbach's best. This
opinion has the confirmation of the 1Hg5buTGer AHge-
Jae;He Ultima still great authority, which pro-
| nounces "Waldfried" to be- of all Auerbach's
works the purest freshest, and healthieSt and the
! one in which one sees cleaTest the soul Of
| the poet II appears here in the usual absurdly
| expensive. but delightfully."- readable three VOL
| umes which nobody buys and everybody bOrrows.
! \ new story by Mr. William Black Is announced to
! appear in The COrHkW Nagd:iRe-once Thackeray's-
the first chapters in the August number. The Prin-
cess of Thule Nacmillan & Coz has already reached
| sixth edition, and the Strange Adventures of
| Phaeton a seventh. lost count of the Daughter Of
! Heth when it got to the fifteenth. Popularity so
extensive rs this is the lot of few novelists in
! these days. nor, when achieved Is it always due,
| in Nh Blacks case, to genius of high and cXcep
tional kind. Il has come TO him. happily, in the
early maturity of his powers, and it is open to him
to keep il as he won it, without any concession to
vulgar tastes any debascment of his natural gifts.
Among living novclists he stands quite apart not
necessarily above the most eminent, but apart in
the sense that he has struck out vein and fol-
| lows nobody's lead. You trace pupilage in
! his work to any particular master, though to many
masters he is of course, like every other cultivated
writer indebted. That is of itself no slight praise,
and is perhaps one secret of the position he has
taken so rapidly.
Scottish Song is the latest volume of Messrs.
Macmian's excellent Golden Treasury Series, a
series which long since became favorites with the
public This little book is a selection of the choicest
lyrics of Scotland compiled and arranged, with
brief notes and glossary, by Mary Carlyle Atkeu.
II owes its existence to the suggestion of Mr. Carlyle,
whose niece Miss Aitkcn is. and though he is in no
way made responsible for it, doubt not the cOllec-
lection has had the advantage of his judgment and
revision. There is not SAYS Miss Aiken.
n sufficient number of really excellent Scot
| fish songs exclusive Of Burnss to fill more than a
small volume; hence she has not tried TO make
| a biz one. aud has left out many OF Burns
| simply because they have been often printed;
and here they Occur III nef language as spice rainier
than as chief dish. There are. however A songs by
Buns to Il of Allan Ramsay who comes next to
| him numerically, that the lover of Burns need
| not fear that he is TO be sent empty away or with
appetite only tantalized stimulated aud not graft
| fed After ALL the main use of such book as this
| Is 10 gather into convenient volume the scat
tered treasures Of literature not otherwise easily
accessible Miss Aitken has done her work carefully
and lovingly and integently. inserting no song