New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-12-02
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE GEOGRAPHICAL CENTRE OF THE BRIT
ISL EMPIRE.

M,cKgSziE WALLACE crown OcIa'O Up '-i'
London Macmillan * CO.
rlIs work we have 10 hesitation i'll pr0nouncmg
ono nc the most important of the literary year. In
the first place it is incomparably the most exhaust
I've and ineligible account of the present cohdl-
tion of country which from the dawn oil history
has never ceased to be interesting to mankind Inc
autbor is the keen-eyed, brOad-minded and Iaborl-
ops Scotchnan who devoted six years to a thor
ouch stndv of the social, agraran and pOhtlcai
conditions of Russia, and embodied the results OF MS
observation and experience IN one OF the most al
nirable books of ITS class published in recent times
That volume revealed to Europe an unknown land.
The great Northern nation had emerged from the
transition perlod of emancipation and social recon-
strnctIon. It did not understand itself and was
grossly misunderstood abroad. volume that
turncd the strong light of intelligent appreciation
rpon inchoate conditions Of development and Illus
trated the new tendencies and altered Characters
ties of the Russian people at once gave the author
high place in English letters. He brings to his new
subject faculties of observation and analytlcal
powers which were thoroughly trained during his
long residence in the North. Many OF the proDl ems
which he has reduced to their simplest terms III
Egypt are analogous to those previously mastered
by him in Russia. The same methods OF lnveStiSa-
ton which he employed so successfully IN MS car
lier work have been applicable IN Egypt 10 'he
agricultural population the commercial oreahId-
tion the methods of administration, the agrarian
laws the relations of the fellahecn TO their creG
;tors and the results of farming gigantic scale
and of contace with the superior civilization OF
Europe. Consequently these pages contain at once
tbe most authoritative and the most interesting ae-
count of the Egyptians of to-day to which the Eng
lish-speaking public now has access.
The authors impressions and studies as traveller
md an Investigator make the groundwork of this
yolnme-nine of the thirteen chapters In the re-
mainng four chapters the second and the last
three he appears in new r6le-that OF pollllcal
counsellor. aud this furnishes sec6r@i reason for
regarding this work as one of great Importance rs
well rs interest. Mr.. Wallace, while acting as cor
respondent of The London Times i'll st. Petersburg
and Constantinoplc, has acquired active interest
in pnlitical questions of the day in England. Ac-
cord;ngly he has not visited Egypt with the reccp-
tive mind and unbiased judgment of a candid ana
impartial traveller content to unravel the tangled
skein of Oriental misrulc foreign financial greed
and national rivalry, and to record his impressions
without prejudice and undue emphasis lie has re-
turned from Egypt after sojourn of six months
controversalist with strong convictions respecting
tLc needs and dangers of the country and the duties
and RESPONSIBILITIES of England. To these c0nVlc-
tons he gives an incorporating and eloquent eN-
PRESTON demonstrating the necessity for special
policy on the part of the Liberal Government
differing widely from that which it has been dis
posed 10 follow. As an argument of the Egyptian
question. presented by writer of established rep
utation and supported hy great mass of thor
ouchly dgestcd information this work cannot fan
to exert a powerful influence upon the English
people Published at a critical juncturc OF AFFAIRS
when the orders for the Withdrawal of the main
portion of the amy of occupation have been snd-
denly couutcmanded in consequence of appalling
dangers in the White Nile country, Nubla and the
Soudan il NAV be one of the determining factors OF
the complex problem Of the future OF Egypt In
deed it cannot he seriously questioned that the
book has already produced a profound impression
in England.
Mr. Wallace cannot be said to have written
popular work for the English public. If his recitals
and positions are irrefutabe, the home Government,
instead of emerging FROM the Egyptian campaign
with dignity and success, persistently misrepre-
scented the motives and aims of the leaders OF the
insurrection and failed to recognize the magnitude
of the work which it had undertaken on the Nile
Mr. Gladstone, for example, has never admitted
that il was a national movement which involved
the necessity of British intervention in Egypt.
Arab in his estimation. an ambitious advent
urer supported by body Of officers who had been
openly bribed by promotions and increased pay.
The whole movement he described repeatedly as
without popular support and sympathy, MAIN
tanned by systematic intimidation and tending
either toward anarchy or despOtsm Now this is
not the account which Mr.. Wallace gives of that
remarkable movement. He describes its earliest
phase to be sure as struggle between two rival
lotteries of military officers. In the Egyptian army
the rank and 6le the commissioned officers aud
the great majority of the officers up to the rank of
colonel were natives of fellah extraction, whereas
nearly all the officers Of higher rank were like the
Khcdivia family, of Turkish Circassan origin.
and formed dominant caste. The two Khedivcs
who preceded the present sovereign had favored
and promoted officers belonging by birth to the in
ferior class. Several of them had become colonies,
and having got their foot into the strrup, they
were anxious I'm TcwikS time to vault into the
saddle and take their place on a level with their
TurcO-C ircassian comrades. While this was the
remote origin of the movement headed by Arab,
the insuTectiOn rapidly passed through several
successive phases first military characterization;
secondly, political agitation; thirdly, national
defence; and fourthy, Mussulman resistance to
aggressive Christeudom. In accordance with those
four phases Nr Wallace in his graphic account of
the insurrecton describes Arab at the outset rs
mutinous colonel resisting Turco-C ircassan fav-
Ortism next an eloquent tribune struggling for
constitutional liberty; again patriot defending
his country; and finally Mussuman paladin
lighting against the ghaOur. These characters
were evolved in logical sequence. Having been
insubordinate Arab and the fcllah colonies knew
that in order to themselves against reprsas
by the rival faction, they must obtain control Of
the Government. The means they adopted were
political agitation and representative institutions
in which they could have commanding voice.
Having created the Chamber of Notables. they
naturally put forward a programme opposed to the
Anglo-French Control Convinced that the foreign
Governments would not attempt coercion, the lead
eTs of the insurrection encouraged to convert
political agitation for constitutional liberties into