23 APRIL 1892, Page 24

Gentle and Brave, and other Tales. (W. Whiteley.) - 1 young lady,

who gives her name and age as "Margaret, aged nine," dedicates these little stories to her "darling Papa and Mama:' That they are better written than much that comes into our hands from authors of thrice the age, to say the least, does not prevent us from hoping that "Papa and Mama" will not allow another venture of this kind. We may quote in a new sense the Horatian " nonum prematur in annum,"—i.e., "let the author be kept silent for nine years more, or, indeed, for longer. By that time, the pen which wrote the fable of "The Disobedient Adder," the beet thing in the volume, should do some good work.