A FAMOUS NOVELIST DEAD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1190, 21 December 1894, Page 10

A FAMOUS NOVELIST DEAD.

MR R. L. STEVENSON.

'*• ' ; • AuckxjAnu, December 17. ' The IJpolu, from Samoa, brings news of the death of Robert Louis Stevenson, the celebrated novelist. Mr Stevenson was hard at work till 4 o’clock in the afternoon of the 3rd instant. Two *hours later he complained to his wife of strange: pains ih his hecki and almost immediately became unconscious. The members of his family were called in, and medical assistance obtained. When the doctor arrived he saw no hope, and Mr Stevenson expired at 8.10 p.m. The cause of death was apoplexy.

Deceased’s health of late had been so improved that his relatives hoped his lung trouble was gradually ceasing to be absolutely dangerous. For a long time haemorrhage was in evidence, but it was hoped that the predictions of the faculty, that the forty-fifth year having been safely passed the sensitiveness of the lung would disappear, might be verified, and apoplexy was not contemplated at all.

He had lately been in robust health for him, the condition of his lungs having greatly improved, and he had put through an .enormous amount of work. A very powerful novel, to be called “ Weir of Hermiston, or The Lord Justice Clerk,” was about half finished, the author considering it one of his best productions. Immediately previous to the attack, Mr Stevenson was superintending the manufacture of a special salad dressing. He suddenly felt pains in the head, and almost instantly was struck down. He was laid on a small bedstead, and remained surrounded by his family till the end, 'l'he face of the dead wag calm and

composed, and it was difficult to realise that life had departed. The remains were interred on a plateau on the summit of Mount Vaea, 1300 feet above the sea level. The service was attended by 20 Europeans and 60 Samoans, and was highly impressive. London, December 18. 'Tie Times says that Mr Stevenson’s death will be felt as a personal bereavement throughout the English-speaking world. The British and American newspapers are unanimous in their expressions of praise and regret. - Le Temps, the well-known Parisian journal, considers the talented writer’s death a loss to the world of letters and to humanity.

One of the most popular novelists of the day is dead, and has, it would appear, fallen a victim to overwork. Mr Stevenson’s constitution was so delicate that he was forced in 1890 to exile himself in Samoa, whose climate seemed specially suited to his health. The one enemy he feared, consumption, was thus apparently overcome, and with a decided change for th 9 better, he entered with renewed ardour into his plans of literary work, only, however, to impose so enormous a strain upon his system that the inevitable break-down at last came, as the telegram shows. Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh in 1845, and educated at the University of that city, graduating M.A. One of his earliest works was an account of his travels in California, /but the book which established his reputation as a Writer/of the first rank was “Treasure Island.” Amongst' the most popular of his other works are “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde,” dramatised and played in the Lyceum Theatre in-" 1888 ; ' “ Familiar Studies,” “ Underwoods," ;; “ Virginibus Puerisque,” “ Story of the Rebellion of ’45,” the “ Dynamiters” (written in conjunction with his wife), “An Island Voyage,” “Travels with a Donkey,” New Arabian Nights,” “ The Silverado'Squatters,” “Priiico Otto,” “The Blackamoor” (1889), numerous essays, “ Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes,” “ The Master of Ballantrae,” “In the Wrong Box,” and his later works “ Kidnapped,” “ The Wreckers,” “ David Balfour,” and “ Oatriona.” He also wrote a life of his father, the celebrated lighthouse engineer. Mr Stevenson had a beautiful home , in Samoa. Naturally, he took an active interest in the vexing politics of that group, and some of his letters on that subject, and his book “ Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa,” caused widespread interest.