Loyola University Maryland - Evergreen / Green and Gray Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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THE LOYOLA ANNUAL 21 ' ootsteps, that of an engineer. He had no calling for such a profession and gradually turned to the more fascinating study pf English literature. While the external course of his life seemed smooth, the ieeper current had a far more troubled stream. With the ihought of a great author in his mind, he would essay to mitate famous writers, only to have his articles returned as inavailable by the leading editors of the country. Undis- nayed, however, he continued his efforts without any appar- ent prospect of success. In the agony of persistent and patient abor he learned to write. It is perhaps to this persever- ince that he owes his facility of expression and pleasing style, vhich no author seems able to imitate. Stevenson looked back v ith joyous reminiscences upon the lays of his early youth. Although he traveled carefree :hrough many lands and over many seas, in later life the years nost dear and the days he loved the most were when he •oamed the hills of Scotland v ith his penny version book. In :hese early boyhood rambles he built his fascinating style vhich speaks to the poet that exists in every man and which las brought to tired men in cities a new vision of the won- lers of the earth. Great statesmen and great soldiers with all :heir toils have done less to help mankind than has Robert Louis Stevenson, for of all boons that man can bring to man lone is greater than to give vision to his eyes, impulse to his nind and love of the elemental life of which he is a part. Joseph J. Quinn, i6. S tfiipn0on in Sfatb pHE near approach of the eighteenth anniversary of the death of Robert Louis Stevenson makes it especially fit- :ing that we should recall his death and some of the incidents pf his varied and adventurous career.

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20 THE LOYOLA ANNUAL Irurufliitt In IJPON the sunny slopes of a mountain town secluded in the Scottish Highlands, Stevenson spent his boyhood days. There it was among those silent vales and whispering forests that he set aglow the spark of genius which he kept bright through life with an ardent flame, only to be extin- guished in the far-away Southern seas. Like a flower he arose silently among the hills of Scotland, emitted a sweet aroma that can be inhaled by all his readers, and solitary he died on the distant island of Samoa. Prevented from mingling with other children by ill health, Stevenson in childhood developed a love for literature. Friends of his boyhood days were few, and even the truest found in him a listless companion. His disposition was such that it tinged even the gayest society with melancholy. But the days of boy- hood passed like shadows of a dream, and gradually merged into youth, the happiest period of his life. Travelers to Edin- burgh remarked that the indolent fellow with soft brown eyes seemed to have drunk the sunlight under Southern vines. Unlike other boys, Stevenson dreamed away his indolent young years. As a caged bird yearns to fly off into sunnier climes, the Scottish youth longed for distant lands. Wander- ing into a seaport town, he would watch the ships like specks in the ofling, blend into nothingness, and burning with a desire to be with them, would sit and weep on the sea-sprayed piers of Leith. Often, too, he would lean over the great brown bridge which connects the new town with the old and watch the trains smoking out from under him on a voyage to brighter skies. Stevenson was sent to college to continue in his father’s

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22 THE LOYOLA ANNUAL Stevenson was born in Edinburgh on the thirteenth of No- vember, 1850. His early years were marred by a disease which through his life dogged his footsteps, pursuing him from coun- try to country, and finally exiling him from his native land. Truly it may be said that death was ever at his heels. His first novel was a story of the Pentland Rising; his first success. Treasure Island. In all his novels he exhibited a kindly disposition towards Americans and Catholics. That he may at times, in spite of his kindly feeling toward the Catholic Church, misunderstood its actions or misinterpreted its rites, can readily be conceded. This occurred very infre- quently, however, and his defense of Father Damien places him immediately above charges of bigotry and makes him of especial interest to pupils of the Catholic schools. In 1889, after traveling from place to place, Stevenson’s health steadily grew worse. He resolved to exile himself from his native land. While taking a yachting trip he stopped at Samoa, and liking the place, settled there. It is with this period of his life, by far the most interesting, that we are chiefly concerned. It is here that Stevenson, the man, stands forth. From the beginning he loved the Samoans, both natives and half-castes. In these latter he took an especial interest, feeling that they were social outcasts, despised alike by native and white. To give them some social diversion, Stevenson offered them the use of his house for their parties and dances. Sad to relate, this well-meaning effort at social uplift failed on account of dissensions among the castes themselves. Steven- son did not, however, restrict his interest in Samoans to the half-castes. He took a general interest in all the natives, and was well beloved by them. They called him Tusitalla, or Tale-Teller. His efforts to befriend the natives were greatly resented by the resident magistrates of the allies, who held