New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-26
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
TWO NOVELS.

xISMET. (No NAME SEREs) limo. pp. S3o' hopefo'
Brothers.
NADCAP VIOLET. Novel. BY WILLIAM BLACK. limo
PIP. 429 Harper Brothers
"Kismet" is light and simple enough story
Of modern fashionable life, with tho advantage OF
being sketched upon Nilotc background He is thirty
fve and She we suspect about twenty They meet ut
Shepherds Hotel Ia Cairo and dine face 10 lace every
day. without speaking to each other-as is the American
hali abroad-untl she hates him for his codness anu
he condescenis 10 be amused with her fippancy. In
Upper Egypt presents the letter OF introduction from
her berothed lover which he has been carrying all inc
fine and they quarrel order 10 be drawn nearer AT
Thebcs they tolerate each other; at the FIRST
Cataract they become aware OF mutual attachment al
Aboosimbel. in Nubia love is declared aud accepted
But the bold defiant, and dangerously frank Miss Ham
lvo suddenly turns into coward and Prevarcatress
Sine conCea her former betrOthal until the return 10
Thees on tho downward trip and then reveals Il to Mr.
Livingston in unheard OF manner, by giving MIN
letter from the absent lover which she has carried in
pocket for days and not yet read! Believe that OF
woman who cant The inevitable explosion then comes
the bottom drops his trust In her as well IL might
and he severely cold md polite Nevertheless, wheh
they stop Dendcra hs increasing pallor wins him al
most back Very absuzeay for man OF thiry-hve, he
breaks away again, because she will not allow him to
seek out absent lever who, by the by is has good
frend-ind fight a duel On reaching Cairo, the lover
himself turns up hut the of his meeting with Miss
Hamlyn is behind closed doors. IL is CONSIDERABLY
vailed like the face OF Againemnoh, III tue oi"
Greek painting. -Four weeks IatCl she siS lI"H
dria for Europe Mr.. Livingston who has followed MS
rival to Jerusalem and nursed him M fever, all at once
a,pears on deck with the returned cngagementTng,
which Miss Hamlvn evidently by dosign,a,thoagh the
author would have believe 1t IL mere accident-aiowS
10 fan into the Then he seizes her cola hahds,
draws her towards him,-and-and-wcIl. thai rs the
Hardly plot, the reader may say yet none inc
worse for ITS simplicity The Egyptian setting Is, on te
whole very well constructed and is the main attraction
the Had ii been the Mississippi Instead OF the
Nile. with sOppagcs az Columbus aud keokuk instead OF
Kanak aud Plg. a great many persons would
care much less for the story. The subordinate hgurcS
are mostly OF the lay order except Miss Campbell
scotcbl who is really an admirable presentation OF
gay, rafting fascinating, shallow hearted and shallow
pated young OF the world Without hcr we mlet
find the company little tigcsomc The ioveraSSag'a
are unexpectedly good. considering the whimsical in
consistency of the characters: both he and she seem To
be actually in earnest Moreover tleY are not wholly
conventional bat freshly and vigorously conceived III
the story had been suggested as nucleus around
which weave pictures Of Egyptian scenes ann eX-
pcricncts it would probably have been better yet, on
the other hand it would have lost its characteristic at
1pospherc Tie descriptive portions best when they
are brefest especially when effects of light and air are
gwen as aiGEctS 20 the representation Of emotion But
one must smile when the author e.. lel) describes the
castorsean mnutcly II it were an unknown plant
H. this country, where it stands on every Summer!aWn
and wc should like to know with whose eyes she saw
larchfecs d. OF, in Nnla! In spite OF deficiencies
which inevitably grew of the original design OF the
work, Kismet" gives evidence OF genuine literary
ability. 1t is a decided advance upon the preceding
number OF the series.
Mr. Blacks "Madcap Violet" lacks for the most
part the fresh Hc6idean atmosphere OF his most
ccsf sOres yet he cannot quite help taking his clf
acters there in yacht and giving them some fishing and
shooting There is general likeness between his plot
and that OF Kismet." In both ii is willfu, uncOn-
tro!lable girl engaging herself TO young man whom
ehe ONLY likes and thinks she loves, and then finding her
fate in stern, repeant, Mentor-ke Individual much
older than herself. But Mr.. Black takes broad can
vas allows himself plenty OF time, draws all his other
characters with careful and skilfu hand, and makes
story apparently logical which wOud seem incohercnt
II briefly and clumsy told. We cannot think however,
that he has been successful usual. The problem
which lac work out is good, Legitimate,
and interesting Violet charming from the start, and
her maddest freaks lead to suspect her native
refinement of nature we want to see the ways and
means by which she is tanned, sobered, and made TO
take q fitting place in the world. Such problem re-
quires strong and wholesome If not complete, sol-
tion and nothing therefore, reconcile the reader to
the tableau OF death and insanity with which the story
closes author to have found the welded life
of two such seeming antagonisms too great a task,
and cut the knot WHICH he could not easily
untanglc. 10 is by no means necessary that
all, or. many, novels sh uld nave
happy denouemen yet, whenever moral orintellectIa
situation is presented which requires the equation Of
known characters with unknown influences, the sum
should fairly worked The oply inference to be
drawn from Mr. Blacks algebra is that "madcap"
nature bring itself into fortunate relation to
life There is very general tendency now in fiction, to
start psychological problems and leave them unsOlved:
even daniel DeTOnda" is not free from this point
This may be done with a purpose, we admit; but we
must still remember that it relieves the novelist from
the hardest part his work In other respects Mad
cap Violet" very pleasant reading MI Black knows
so well Just describe, and to what length that
the scenery of his nOvelsby comparison with that OF
many we arc Obliged read-seems TO have been fresh
ened by soft Spring rains. His painting of character,
his conversations aud situations, never strongly
dramatic and exciting but they thoroughly good.
He never gives tame tiresOme chapter, and this
is something for which all readers will be profoundly
grateful
THE LAW OF EVIDENCE. BY SIMON GEKEsLEAF, LID.
Revised by JOHN WILDER MAY vols. PIP. 69t 62l 533
Little, Brown, & Co.
The character and scope of Greenleaf's Evil
dence are 50 well known not to need extended
comment. As textbook and authority it has full
filled requirements OF the schools and the profession
IN manner than satisfactory, and its popularity
aested by the fact that IL has in 35 years passed
edit in wit rka