ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10414, 12 April 1897, Page 3

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.

TO THE EDITOR. Sir,—There is a movement at Home to create some suitable memorial of the late Robert Louis Stevenson. The movement originated in Edinburgh, and if the deliverance of a moat brilliant oration would constitute leadership, then Lord Rosebery may be said to be at the head of it. I have received a letter from a literary friend, asking whether the admirers of Stevenson in Auckland would join in what, I suppose, must be the materia) basis of the memorial—contributing to the object. A meeting has already been held in' Dunedin, many very interesting speeches were made, and I should think something; is likely to be done there. Perhaps that is not surprising, as Stevenson was an Edinburgh man, and the daughter city may feel a family pride in so distinguished a relative. But that is just the question; without doubt Stevenson has charmed thousands of his countrymen with his well-told tales, written in a beautiful manner. Has he, however, "told his story"— not merely related his tale, but delivered his message to his generation—and has he done it in such a way as to justify the distinction proposed? Edinburgh holds a beautifnl monument to another Edinburgh man, whose stories are read now after eighty years with a degree of appreciation that would turn the heads of some modern popular authors. Will the " Master of Ballantrae" be as popular as "Waverley" in twenty years' time, or will "Catriona" stand the test of time like "Quentin Durward"? Perhaps the comparison may be too severe, and yet something in Stevenson's honour be justifiable. I noticed that some of the speakers at the Dunedin meeting had apparently only made acquaintance with Stevenson just before the meeting; there was neverthless a fairly enthusiastic sentiment pervading the proceedings. There may be many amongst U9 who require a little " light and leading" to the proper appreciation "f Stevenson. I think it is so, and I fear 1 am one of them. It the project should commend itself to the able professor of English at the Dnivereity College, could he be induced to lead our thoughts by giving a lecture on Stevenson, perhaps at the Auckland Institute? Although Stevenson is much read, I doubt there are many in my own parlous : condition of not loving him as we ought. Mr. ' Saintsbury, in his article on " Twenty Years of Reviewing" in Blackwood, says:—"The reviewer may discover in 'Catriona' the only grace that had been missing to make perfect the work of the most brilliant of his yonnger contemporaries." This from the veteran critic is indeed high praise, and '-f Professor Egerton would throw the light of intelligent appreciation on Stevenson's work, he would not only add to our intellectual pleasure, but he might at the same time make it seem reasonable to us why there ahould be a desire to place a memorial to Stevenson alongside of that to Scott, and possibly beget in us a wish to be represented in that memorial.—l am, etc, J< 11. Unos.