New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-30

LOVED HIM, AND WHY-HIS KINDLI-
NESS AND CHARITY-THE CHARM
OF HIS RELATIONS WITH SAMOA
AND ITS PEOPLE-CURIOUS
COMMENTS ON HIM. AND
SOME CURIOUS ESTI-
MATES AND CON-
PARISONS--HIS IN
DIvIDUALITY.
London December Is
Tn almost everything that has been written on
stevenson since his death. there is the note "l
affectionate regret. 1t is plain That ne WAS
loved not by his friends only but by MS reaueis'
who. indeed became his friends. lie hau al
attaching personality. and he put so h'uch "a
II into his books that one who knew MS oooN'
well felt that he knew the man we'll nave "o
other title to say anything about him IMAM 'ia'
vh,cb spr,ngs from this kind of distant inti-
macy l never knew him personally hoi eNc'
saw him. wish l had. But l have known
.hos. Who knew him. and they one and all,
spoke Of him In way when men very 'e'N'
use toward another man.
One of these private friends OF stevenson w
.,r,hod 70 me wears ago visit he had made TO
,ha man he loved at Bornemouth. SteVehso"
,..s sunnoscd to be dying. 1T is really going
au,r m hid him goodby." said he VINO went
on that melancholy errand. on his return ms
face told the story. He had seen MS ifieiu'
.vo had very little talk He was too weak 10
talk He lay on his bed, and nothing ou' HIS
.ves seemed to be alive. 1t Is ques''o" y.
DAYS or possibly Of weeks. But MS c"ee',
serenity. his quiet fortitaGe. his gaiian'E' HIS
.,ouoh,fulness about others-l cannot spedM Vi
It," ,;hod
And tho tears stood in his eyes as he descr'oeu
Tho scene. There is letter in me iiiiie9'
signed H. which is a suitable pendant 10 It,
"c.ver wears ago lay Ill in San Francesca All
ohscure journalist, quite fr!endless' Stevenson
Who knew me slightly. came to my oeus''e' ""u
.a,d Il suppose you are like all OF us you uC'
keen your money. Now. II NIUE i'' -.
tween one man Of letters ana "io'"'
.,,,s 70 a lad writing rubbish for vulgar sheet
In California;! ~ odded TO
=. oou 10 NO sunrise TO any one who has
-eoa those books of Stevenson in wnich ne IT,
,. r,ost NJ himself There are many OF theii
-,ary with direct photographed passase'
o.. sucb hooks as the finland Voyage anu '''o
..rrave,s with a Donkey in the Cevenhes s"'"
On every page the kindness OF the HAL 'iN
q. homo with every whom he meets "''N
,rost at home with the humblest MS S-"e
refinement Of nature never expressed 'sei
,nere avoidance Of what was Tess ie''"'N
did not hold aloof. Who but stevenson 80
state of health. holding on 10 He os ''''
would have crossed the Atlantic In '"e .
or the Continent in an emigrant tram ' ~
4, saw those who think most OF HIS law"
fame In search Of experiences ana OF HI" '''
perbans he did, but / always thought the u',-
avowed motive was one or synpa'"s VIZ
storage passengers and emlgrah's' anu III"
wish to make others sympathze. Al any ia'''
Won cannot read his account without seems
that he was touched by the sufferinss "''o" "'
Voluntarily shared and that he renewed MS Owl
by relieving others - .
II was the same in Samoa lie won 'iie NV -
.ha islanders by loving them. He was devoted
TO them and they to him. He fought 'heii o''-
t,es in Europe OF that they probably hhe"
,,,t,e or nothing. But they knew that he hveo
among then, as one of themselves. and that mere
.. ,aast was a white man who had not come 10
comoa IN make money cut OF them or 10 OPP
nrsss them.-no nor even to preach at thein' ou''
so far as he was concerned. To adopt them lh'o
tho brotherhood of mankind. Samoa was 10 MN
the promised land, rather the iahu "'ioi
promised him health and the power OIL "oiN
He said to her chiefs:
81 love the land / have chosen it to be my
home while live and my grave after an
daad. and love the people. and have chosen
them 10 be my people to live and die with
ua trusted them and they him. In his inter
course with them there was neither pre'ehce Ho'
patronage. With these children OF the sou''
Pacific Stevenson a child; wiser ana stronger
than they but with the simplicity ana genuine
ness which children have and few others nave
-,hs greatest excepted We have all read Of th'
10.
pu..a was borne from Lvadia to Petersburg
the people OF a great Empire accompanying 'heh
-r,er 70 his grave 1t was a pageant not un
worthy OF an Emperor And not unworthy q
C..,.nsor WAS the homage of the natives Of
Samoa who cut pathway for his coffin through
.ha dense forest OF the mountain side, ana bor'
rim, N the lonely summit, where he was buried
tt, ~. moan NJ the ocean as his requiem for al
time to come. o
such n nature as Stevenson's needs no cerlil
r.,es from ANYBODY, but IL Is interesting 10 see
what ia said of him on the personal side by mel
hose strongest side is certainly not the personal
will quote two Mr.. Edmund Gosse ana MI All
drew Lang when he was struggling ana III"
known" says Mr. Gosse, "as some OF US Ienei'l
Der him, he was always modest gay loyal al
WAYS respectful to accomplished merit ai"aS'
merry under defeat. always patheucaliy gra'eiu
for each crumb Of success. When celebrity caih
upon him his modesty knew no abatement n
never took himself seriously, never adopted pom
4ifcal airs never lapsed into the fatuous egotisn
of the popular favorite." These last are point
a. which Mr. Gosse is as good witness as
c,vi, engineer in a patent case. Mr. Lang wh
4. renuted TO have a power Of taking detache
views, says: His heart full OF chari'.
erd affection. kind, honest. much suffering. val
liant. A good man well as writer OF un
eoualled charm, a patriot. hero In MS quie
way" This. again is the testimony OF one "h
IL thought able to keep his feelings under re
straint.
Stevenson was not priggish. says MT Goss'