New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-11-10

due to hard work. and while the articulation OF
the plot may be skllful, while 1t may not creak,
the romance Is not palpitating organism' IL
leaves the reader. on that side Of his faculty OF
apprehension not quite convinced and almost
cold In his conversational moods. which are
the moods Of his literary and biographical
essays, the moods OF his travels, stevenson rose
high above the workaday plane OF the crafts
man He may have done killing work on one OF
these .pages but II Is never apparent. On the
contrary, there Is the most llmpd transition iroh
one gentle thought to another. the style IL as
lucid as crystal, and yet with no hardness no
glitter The authors fun overfIows his me'h-
DRY wanders back among old friends and old
books through faded scenes and happenings al
most forgotten He liz genial. wise, witty, the
most human Stevenson Of all the many steven
sons who have bewildered his friends In their
ever Increasing number 1t Is the most lovable
stevenson own brother to Stevenson the poet
For the poetic spring never dried UP In this
Scotchman 1t never yielded any imposing stream
of verse Neither in "a Chlds Garden OF Verse
nor in Under woods is there anything over
which II IL conceivable that many generations or
readers will go mad with delight. II IL pleasant
minor verse and 1t is not plain that any OF
Stevenson's ballads. not even the spirited
Heather Ale" will ever take high rank. But II
he did not have the lips. he had Mt least the
heart OF singer and all through his work, even
the worst Of II, there runs buoysncy which IN
his best brings home the conviction OF his genius
and his worth. 1t Is the poet In him that strikes
fire. 1t is the poet in him that makes his very
polemics beautiful makes a pamphlet as savage
az that written in the defence Of the memory OF
Damien something which one reads for sheer
pleasure
1t Is not possible to estimate even now the sum
total of his labors The "Vailima Letters have
still to appear In full The unfinished novel "St
Yves is on the press. The posthumous Fables
which. to tell the truth. seem tenuous enough In
those instalmepts which have thus far been
printed. may perhaps reveal some new and Inter
esting resource In one of the most copious au-
thors OF his time. Doubtless the completion Of
Mr.. Colvln's twenty volumes will bring forward
some few things hitherto unknown. This new
edition OF the scribner's. beautifully made and
discreetly edited. Is to contain various things
hitherto more or less difficult of access. Steven
sons earliest production. The Pentland Rising.
is to be reprinted. his essays on Gentlemen"
Some Gentlemen in Fiction" and Popular Au-
thors" are to reappear, there will be reprint
of The Body Snatcher," and another Of The
Misadventures OF John Nicholson which Is
said to be extremely But the bulk of Steven
sons work has been made accessible before this,
most OF it long enough to be carefully weighed.
OF that work it does not seem 10 US possible TO
say In eulogy all that considerable BODY or
readers evidently believes should be said Cur
rent criticism makes difficulty OF answering
the question with which our inquiry Is begun.
Stevenson we are told. Is undoubtedly classic.
II he is he Is a classic on the road. When he
finally arrives IL Is improba bic that he Will nave
all these recently reprinted volumes with HIM
What will his literary baggage be? 1t is prob
lem Of which we do not pretend TO do more than
indicate the solution. But this much may be ven
tured. to return TO the point suggested above
when he is worthest OF the poet n him Steven
son is worthiest Of imperishable fame.