Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1888-03-25
best beloved among his stories.
say "to ny SURPRISE" not be-

cause at all un0err6t6
vigor and "go," and the exciting
interest of kidnapped" but becsused
fiud still more entnrollirg the psychic
logical subtlety Of "Dr. JekJll and Mr.
HYDE" or the magic and mystery of some
OF the tales Ia "The Merry Men," or
"The New Arabian Nights"
From Whist variety OF places hail the
Stevensonian treasures! l have men,
toned 8 number of these already. "Dr.
JeByll," "Ollala" and "Markheim" we're
sll written at Bournemouth; and "The
Dyns inter-" begun ct Hyeres, was fln-
ished at Bournemouth. "Thrawn Janet"
was written at Kinnaird, near PItlochIie.
1.-THE Merry Men" begun at Pitlochrie
was finished at DSvos. The "Menoir CT
Fleeming Jenkin" is yet another eff spring
OF B ourDemouth. "The Silverado Squat
tiers" halls from Hyeres. "Trsvels With
8 Donkey" was written partly in Edin-
burgh and partly in Dieppe.
lock over my American editions of
Stevenson, and l find with the imprint OF
Roberts Bros, IAN Inland Voyage"
"With 8 Donkey in the Cevennes,"
"Prtnce Otto," "Treasure Island" and
"The SIlvsrsdo Squatters," and with the
imprint of Charles Scribner's Sons, CDR.
Jekyll and Mr.. HYDE" kidnapped"
"The Merry Men," "New Ara
b an Nights" "Familiar Studies of Men,
Womt and Books" ,"Virginibus Pueris-
que," "Tse Dynamiter," Memories and
Portraits" "Memoir Of Fleming Jen-
kin" "Underwoods," and "a Child's
Garden of Verses" But, owning ell
these, am yet filed with envy by an
article from Edmund Gosse, on Steven
son as poet, in which he speaks Of three
publications from the press of Davos-
three books CT verse-"Not l, and Other
Poems," "Moral Emblems," and "The
Graver and the Pen," three volumes that
l, the most devoted of Stevensonians,
have never even seen.
For my own part, l have no question as
to according to Stevenson high rank as a
poet. ga Child's Garden" is simply the
most delightful book Of poems Of chilo-
hood that 1 know of anywhere. AS Mr..
Gosse admirably says: "The first THU e
which struck the reader was the extraor-
binary clearness and precision with which
the immature fAncies Of eager childhood
were reproduced in it. 1t is not inYen-
vivid kind, patiently directed to little
1t gives a unique thing; transcript of
that child mind which we have all pos
sessed snd enjoyed, but of which no one
except Mr.. Stevenson seems to have car
ried away photograph"
In Mr.. SteVenson's grown up volume Of
verse, "Underwoods," there is the same
cand or-the same revealing Of his real
self to the audience of his readers. In
reading 1t one feels as IL the rest
OF the worlds rhymers wore
masks, and here, only, did you
look into the very face of the poet. 1t is
sn intensely personal book; dedicated, in
prose, to eleven Of the authors physic-
ians; and large proportion of its verses
are addressed to intimate friends. And
yet we are so at one with writer that we
seem to share his emotions, and are fat
tered by his confidence. Welike to know
how he feels towards these men and wo-
men to whom he writes in the intimacy
of sympathetic affection.
His prose work is, much of 1t, equally
frank. The personal note is struck often.
In "Virginious Puerisque," in "An In
land Voyage" in "With Donkey" he
reveals to us much of his own experience
and not little of his own heart.
memories and Portraits" is still
more distinctly photographed.
And the papers at present ap-
pearfpg in "Scribner's" are, perhaps,
the most self-revealing Ct all. Few writ
ers inspire personal affection in their read
ers to any such extent as does Stevenson.
HIS SORROWS are our sorroWs-his Joys
are our ioys-and we wait on the result
of his neaIth-seeking in the Adirondacks
almost as eagerly as do those OF his own
household.
In an admirable article contributed to
the Atlantic Monthly by Miss Sophie
Kirk, she speaks of him as "the true
gypsy and wandering entertainer of the
time, beguiling US with song and fortune
telling" She adds thst sit is difficult to
define the quslity-iii 1t be single quality
which meets and controls the humorous
and unconventional force in Mr.. Steven
sons books; which blends with it to give
the key OF his style, arc renders him not
alone gifted companion, but one heartily
loveble sndH trustworthy, as well. 1t is
a certain fueness and elevation Of mind;
what an EnglishmaD, perhaps, might call
the tone OF gentleman, though it is in
this case an intellectual as well IS moral
distinction; perception OF graduatious,
and a cordial recognition Of the rights OF
others"
Agsin In speaking of Mr.. Stevens on's
zeal and industry, and the brave and
strong utterances Of his early books,
Miss Kirk says:
"All this esgerness for the fray, these
cheerful active words fare found along
side of passages which tell that the long
struggle for health, and battle for exis-
tence, and which all his clever and de-
liehtiul books have been written had
already begun; thai his sympathies were
quickened by suffering, and that the days
thus indicated to enjoyment were already
felt TO be measured"
In these sentences Miss Kirk touches
on the tragedy which underlies Mr.. Ste
venson's achievement and stsrtles Us, now
and again as 1t appears in his brightest
pages. What other man has fought SO
noble battle against such odds9 How
one longs for him to triumph in the fight
to see him healthy and strong, and IS
well assured of his earthly future of
opportunity and endesvor as Is the sy-
erage man OF thirty-seven-his present
age.
In q "Critic" OF few months ago, Mr..
William Archer gave delightful de-
scription of Stevenson at "SkerrYv ore."
Scotch as "Skerryvore" is in sound, the
house which Stevenson has thus christen-
ed is situated in English Bournemouth;
where constant colony of health-seek-
ers congregate on the warm coast OF
Hampshire. "Is ls," says
Mr.. Archer, Gan unpretendiDg two-story