New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-09

VIlirsTClIAGlN. Translated by ISABEL +.
HArGooD. l2mo, PIP SCI Thomas y
Crowc 6 Co.
WHITE cocEADEs: An Incident Of the
Forty Five" By EDWARD IBf.NAEuS
STEVENSON. 12mo PIP. GIG. Charles Serb
ncrs Sons.
CHRIS BY w. T. NORRIS Macmillan & Co.
THE rEsIDuArY LnGArEE BY F. }. sTINsoN.
Emo PIP. l42. Charles ScribucrS sons
THE SPELL OF AsIITAEoTH. by DUFrIELD os-
BORNE lamo PIP. 234 Charles SeHOncrs
Sons.
Vcrcstchagin, in At Home and IN war; mas
followed Tolstoi's methods somewhat too falth-
fully The first part OF the book, in which he
describes his infancy and youth, is one oil those
literal and minute records TO which tho author
OF Peace and War has accustomed the world
But il is quite easy to oNcrdO this KIND OF rcmhiS-
cencc. and after time the details OF childish
life arc liable TO grow rather feeble ard uninter-
cstipc. Once in a while We pleased with n
-ce;se relation OF what a little child thought and
hid and when the child is foreigner the primary
interest in its development may be the greater
But nobody can stand a course OF chldlSh chrOhi-
clcs and Vercstchagin does not unfortunately
realize this The second part Of his book winch
narratcs his experiences in the army, IS lar more
interesting. Here have to do not only WIFI
adults but often with historical pcrsonageS' as
and Skobccn's father and the late Gar. The
author served in the war against Turkey ana thcfe
took part in the earlier assaults on Plcvna lie
was there wounded and missed the final ana
successful attack One of his brothers was Killed
nv Circassians before plcvna. His account OF TINS
fighting is wildly realistic. Later he accompanied
SI,obcleG. 70 whose staff he had been attached III
the Balkan camraieu 10 Central Asia, and shared
in thc conpaign against the TclSc TWcomanS and
the CAPTURE of Geoll-Ielllc. This campaign Is 90
srbeG most clearly and Che pictures ar2 cnllN'h'"
by many character sketches and elective H't'
groups ard striking episodes Altogether tlls
second part is full Of interest and he ana consul
tutcs series of what the French call docu-
mcnts.7 whcrcwith t. Illustrate any history OF
Russia. and especially the Russian Amy
Verestchagin in his military description does not
fall behind Tolstois Sebastopol tableaus al ALL
indeed. we arc inclined to think that in several
places he considerably cXcclS his model For one
Thing he is free from morbid sentiment. Ills views
Of life arc not depressed. but those of healthy
man in good circumstances who takes thncS as
they conc makes the best Of everything. ana sets
down facts simply and truthfully as they appear to
him.
Mr. Stevenson has taken another leaf ont OF
the inexhaustible notebook of Jacobitism' ana
in white Coclladcs7 has woven not unintHrcst-
ing story out of tolcrably common incident
the visitation and searching Of Scotch residences
for refugees from Cullodcn. OF course the IRE
fender himself appears, and exhibits the galantry
and recklessncss which seem TO have distinguished
him everywhere but in the circumstances when
they would have been important The Seven
Men Of Glenmoriston also have TO do with the
story. figuring in rescue of PRISONERS from the
English Dragons under Colonel Daniorth
Whether the episode which forms the main motive
or the story has any historical basis Is not stated
but il is of kind which nay easily have
bappenod. and not once only but several times
The fortune which Charlcs's visits usually brought
70 his hosts is certainly represented here with
sufficient historic fathtulnesS. Ruin II not de"'h
usually followed in the track of Bonnie Prince
Charlie"
Tho FIRST lines Of Chris" arc rather startling:
"Christina Compton sat upon the low garden
wall of the villa which her father had taken at
Cannes for the winter. and dangled her legs con-
tentcdlv in the sunshine" But though thls seems
70 uro,isc bohemian adventures. to say the least
the quite unconventional Juvenile manners o.
Chris lead her into no serious improprlcuos
7, is true that in her innocence and vor'ancy she
narrowly cscapcs trouble at the hands Of a dc-
sicning blackboard who seeks to compromise her
IN make her marry him. but as the success OF
this rascal would manifestly spoil the dcnoucment
he naturally fails The story is ingenious and
well told, and the plot is not hackneyed.
Mr. Stinson's Rcsiduary Logatcc - is de-
cidcdlv amusing and criSply written story. orig-
nal in conception. carried out with adroitnesS
and resembling in several respects one-act
comedy such as the French like and excel ln
The interest is kept up by the uncertainty rs 10
the whereabouts OF the several ladies VINO are en-
,itl,d 70 Grop in upon the drcadfully nervous
nil 41o f4.pHp has
The story that he begins TO doubt whether the
difficulties were not cleared away at the last with
rather too brusque and sweeping movement
Still this sort of fiction is 100 light TO dispute
about 1t enlivens a magazine or helps pass
a drovsy aftcr-lunch hour, and nothing more
need be required Of it.
Mr.. Duffeld Osborne has built story cat OF
Old Testament Judaism. The opens upon
The siege Of Jericho. and Joshua and Elcazcr the
High Priest arc among the characters. There Is
n good deal of ina ginatvc force in the description
OF the siege and sack of the city. The hero son
Of Aclan meets rcscucS and loves CanaanltlSh
Girl whom he finds in the Temple of Ashtaroth,
and because of this act - dsobcdicncc he ana ms
family are sentenced TO death after the current
ferocious Jewish custom The tale is not pleas
ant one and while il is written with some abll-
itv tho characters are too sletchy to take hold
upon the readers sympathcs. Perhaps the oldest
feature is the curious mattcr-of-fact way in which
the falling Of the walls Of Jericho is described.
The subject 10 doubt. is essentially intractahlc
from the point Of view OF fiction, and possibly
on abcr writer might have failed TO do much
better with il. But then II must he remembered
that nobody j. under any obligation 10 wrcStlc with
iutrac;ablc subjects. and it may even be said
that when the question is Of adding another to
the worlds already ovcrgrown stock OF novels,
nobody is justified in such experiment