STEVENSON

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 11, 14 January 1929, Page 5

STEVENSON

LONDON CLUB'S DINNER

"THE IMMORTAL MEMOKY"

(From "Tht Post's" Raprutntatlvt.) LONDON, 22nd November.

;; "Tlio Immortal .Memory of .Robert Louis Stevenson' 1, is :a toast' that is always proposed by some eminent man .qii;Je.tters- at-- the; annual dinner of "the London E.L.S. Club. Last night one had |^li^^pporjtaHit^t"o¥-V?liiS^mi^M? Km ile "Cammaerts speaK." Tins "Belgian writer, poet," translator, and literary critic came to London in 1908, and he has remained here-ever since. He'is master of both English and French. In the chair was Sir E. Denison Boss, C.1.E., Ph.D., Director of the School of Oriental Studies and Professor of Persian in tlie University of London.

The Duke of Montroso (president of the Society), in apologising for his absence, wrote: "In Burns, Scott,:: and Stevenson we have three writers Scotland may well be proud of, and some of the gems of thought which 1 they have handed down to, posterity are not unworthy of the great Shakespeare or even tho Bible, probably tho two.most outstanding monuments the world of letters has ever seen." . ■• M. Cammaerts said .one. could not bo lukewarm about Stevenson. T,here . were some writers we admired—Byron,. Thackeray, Matthew .Arnold. There I were others we 'oved, like 3hellcy,! Masset, "Dickens, and Stevenson. They were so close to us that .ye should feel that any .jriticism 'vas .almost like a personal: iffront. It tvould be as diffi-, cult.to apportion to Stevenson his position among .lineteenth-century writers as it was to appraise the effect of those we loved upon our own lives, Stevenson had not created a great gallery of. portraits, but he had produced a wonderful gallery of landscapes. LOVE OF A GOOD STOEY. "I do love ■ a good story," M. Cammaerts confessed. . "The reading public to-day are steeped in alarms and excursions. There are writers who have far out-Sherlocked Sherlock Homes. It may be a great mistake.on my part, but I do like to lie back and be taken thousands of miles away and into centuries far removed from this.year of grace. C svallow in sucl) luxury. Who is the author who will provide me with this delectation and still preserve my self-respect? Who is the author who will give mo this extraordinary relaxation and not spoil my taste at the same time? Who is the author who will indulge me •in • my weakness for a good yarn .and my fondness for good style? It is Stevenson! I doubt if there are any writers of. the twentieth-century—-and there aro many famous ones—Who j will do these two things so well. Stevensou still remains an equal master. I have found nowhere else that alert way of marshalling events, that, power of suggestion which ,endears Stevenson to the true stor'y-Jover, not only among English readers but "jven among French story -lovers." - ■ '

It.was a most interesting experience, said ,M. Caraniaerts, to approach Stevenson's '. works with a lftind fully equipped to understand and appreciate him. Twenty years ago ;he (M. Cammaerts) had very good'veason for knowing little of the writer. His works had not -been translated into French. That terrible gap had to a great extent been repaired by M. Theo Vailet. He had translated twelve stories into very good French. Vailet was a poet as well. That gave him a great advantage in dealing with Stevenson's ..works. "I am told," said M. Cammaerts, "that one of his greatest wishes is to publish in French , the complete edition of Stevenson's''writings."

Id concluding, the speaker referred to the wort tliat was being done. by tlie Lengue of Nations for better international relations. He suggested that one of the first duties of tlie League was to remove the mtfny obstacles which lay in the path' of intellectual .relations between tho nations. It was bad enough that our contemporary writers should be kept so much apart, but 'when they camo to the elassies'the barrier of language ought to be lowered. Stevenson was a classic. As a story.writer he should fill a niche in the history of European literature. He did not .only belong'to.'the Scots or to Englishspeaking countries. Ho belonged to all civiHsatiohi-r'.llis.iiiil'u^ciicc 'was'far too valuable" to 'be 'limited To"any one country. His words should be made 'intclligiblo to all nations.