ROBERT L. STEVENSON’S MOTHER.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XX, Issue V, 29 January 1898, Page 122

ROBERT L. STEVENSON’S MOTHER.

A gentle, kindly lady has passed away somewhat suddenly, and one to whom she was ever most friendly would lay a stone on the cairn which will be erected by many in affectionate sorrowing remembrance of Mrs Stevenson. Some time after the death of her husband, Mrs Stevenson, knowing

that her sou, although now happily married, needed her as much as she longed for his companionship, left her home here and bravely went to the distant, sunny land where the novelist found he could best enjoy a measure of health. There the presence of the surviving beloved one soothed his mother’s sorrow; and her intense interest in all that concerned him. and also iu the entirely new phases of life around her made time pass very pleasantly. When, on (we think) two occasions she returned to Edinburgh for a short visit, she delighted all her friends by her graphic descriptions, aided by innumerable photographs, of life in Samoa. A third time she joined her son and his household there; but now they were not long to be together. As every one knows, after a few hours illness the distinguished novelist breathed his last, and sleeps in a lonely grave far from his native land, far from the spot where both his parents now resttill the great awakening. When his mother returned here she looked so ehanged and saddened, it seemed as if she could never be her own bright self again. True Christian resignation, however, time and appreciation in which her lamented son was held, had their healing effect; her wonted cheerfulness gradually reappeared, and she evidently began again to enjoy life.

At first we dreaded the most distant illusion to her loss, but before

long found that nothing pleased her more than speak of Robert Louis and his works. The last winter she seemed specially animated and cheerful. The meeting in the Music hall (presided over by Lord Rosebery) in connection with the proposed memorial to the great author was a heartfelt pleasure to her. So crowded was it that with the utmost difficulty his mother effected an entrance, and only by going on the platform much against her inclination. could she obtain a seat. ‘You may believe.’ she afterward wrote: ‘I listened with very mingled feelings; but I think the prevailing one was gratitude.’ A daughter of the manse, Mrs Stevenson was always, as was her husband, an attached member of the Church of Scotland, and a warm friend to its missions. Kind, thoughtful. generous to a degree, she was ever ready to respond to appeals for aid in any form: and many a charity, publie and private, will miss her sympathetic heart and her liberal hand. Interested in all around her, brightly intelligent, full of anecdote, and with a keen sense of humour, she was a delightful companion, and her pleasant smile, her genial laugh, are good to remember. The afternoon of Easter eve was the last time we saw her; and little did we think that the parting cheerful ‘good-by’ was ‘farewell’ for all time. — Chambers’ Journal.