A Family Tree, and other Stories. By Brander Matthews. (Longmans
and Co.)—Mr. Brander Matthews is a master of the art of short-story writing. His style is admirably, crisp, correct, and dainty, without affectation, and he allots the proportions of his briefly-treated themes with skill. His humour is of a quiet, subdued kind; it never sins against taste ; and he possesses real imagination, not only ingenuity. His stories are all worth reading, as stories, and also for the little gems of thought and observation with which they are studded. The narrative which gives its name to the present volume is an excellent sample of his ability ; it is a strange, wild, fantastic conception, invested with dramatic interest, and elaborated with much constructive skill. " Scherzi and Skitzen " are vary clever nutshell stories, with toothsome kernels, and "On the Battlefield" is a delightful sketch of character and nationality.
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