New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-14
AN AGREEABLE LIAR.


THE MEMOIRS AND TRAVELS OF MAURITIIS AT
t;rSTI's. COUNT DE BENYOWSKY. In Siberia.
Kamrhat,a Japan. the Linkiu Islands and Formosa:
From the translation OF his original manuscript
n7H7I by william M,Sho G,ivcr f. ,n:tratei
Fp 800. Macmillan & Co. The Adventure series')
II Is not easy to decide where tits book should be
placed. whether among legitimate writings OF travei
and adventure. on tho same she'll with mahac'ured
fctions like :" Robinson Crusoe' "The SWISS Family
Robinson and Masterman Ready" Rarely per
Laps never has any book been honored with an intro
ductIon like that which here strips the redoubtabe
Benyowsaly OF every shred Of credibility. lie was
born within a year or of the birth Of that Count
Cagiostro whom Carlyle. with characteristic incon-
sistcncy. poried and celebrated III the
same breath as the King OF Liars and Is de-
scribed by Captain Oliver as one who "spent his
whole life in piasterng together the true and tie
false and thcrefrom manufacturing the plausible and
therefore. from Caryle's point Of view. only your
half knave. than whom nothing Is more wholly de-
spcable detesable and fOrgetable.' Ills narrative
had absolutely OF the ver,simitude Of journal
In which incidents put down at the moment Of
their occurrence or afterward, willie they were
still fresh IN memory. II written ont long after
ward with records OF voyages and boos OF travel at
hand and the temptation must have been very great
TO enlarge II with facts stolen from ali sides. Once
the author yielded TO temptation, he could find no
limit to BIS maslnlngs. 1t was career OF adven-
turc again to convince Others that he had been
In places which he had seen; to persuade them
Of the existence OF places which TO this day nobody
else has been abe to find TO attest his bravery
BIZ expanding miserable blockhouses into ample. we'll
garrsoncd Notifications which he captured. "Thc
Count" write, Captain Oliver, had only himself to
blame II wrong interpretations were assigned TO the
three or separate versions Of his whole career
from the date OF his birth until bis final disappear
ancc from Europe. At that time Europe was tceming
with ADVENTURES. pIiisblc, amrsng ana goodookIng
,1.I No., Tt,,. Gyht
und,r any leader whore plumber 10 be gained
sncl an one DenyOwsky.'
But there some points In his history tnat
reasonably certain While he for Oh
scurc rcason-que contrary to the ordinary practice
Of men ana women-to have put the date Of his birth
back five years. from I14G to l7ll there Is no aues
ton that he born at verbowa. IN Hungary. His
father, whose title he Inherited. a general Of
cavalry in the service Of the Emperor. ana Benyow
sky seems TO have considered this military rank
matter of hereditary right also. for he asserted that
In the seven Years War he served I'm the armic,
Of Maria Theresa In tn" quality of Il general" though
he was thea stu lad In his teens, and had taken
up The profession OF arm, In lis fourteenth year II
that WIS the kind OF material which Maria Theresa
had for commanders II j. not TO he wondered at that
Frederick the Great was conqurror But Captain
Oliver insist, that DenyOwsy's career as a
began af the outset. and thar he was Incapable Of
saying ANYTHING about himself without cxagg,raon.
lie was In short. "A premature FaIstan. whose living
was not sIpcrnducci by age and ,upcrfulty Of
sack hut was the insrpirabc companion Of his life.
Will. he claimed 10 hav. been present at all the i'm.
portant butt.es OF the seven Years War; vet singu.
larIv enough Tor a hero who began his military ex.
perepce s, early. and represented II rs varied.
he WAS extremely unfortunate when left to his own
Resources, lis brothers n-nw easily deprived him Of
his patrimony. and even prevailed on the Empress to
Danish him. When he returned TO join the Polish
Confcd racy at the OF twcnty.onc years, hr was.
according To his own account, given prominence over
the Heads OF his elders, ana yet the campaign. In
which h. performed prod giles Of strategy and valor
Tia, wouli have put 10 shame TIE most boastfu Of
IIom,rc warriors. In which 1T was BcnyowsW who
did everything and surpassed everybody. like Tiach'
crav,s Inimiiallc Major Goliah O'Gradv t,nhagan.
IT, T. l. C. So ended In Ills capture bv the Rus
SLAMS VIII, Ind already apprrecndcI him once ana
released h,m on pIro.c and sent him first TO
Kaz,p and later 10 III" uttcrmost llmt Of KAN
ohntka.
Meanwhile fe hal made several voyages. according
10 his own story aud had gained experience Of
the sea lie 81 over the violation Of his parole bv
asserting that a money ransom lad been paid; bat
at another tine he acknowledged that he was par