01 - Robert Louis Stevenson by G. K. Chesterton

Explore the captivating life of Robert Louis Stevenson in this concise early twentieth-century biography, crafted by polymath G.K. Chesterton and acclaimed journalist J. H. Nicoll. Often referred to as ‘The Characteristics of Robert Louis Stevenson,’ this collaboration features distinct sections by each author, offering unique insights into Stevenson’s remarkable character. This recording presents the third edition, which includes structural changes and additional material not found in the first edition. Join David Wales as he brings this literary exploration to life.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Part one of Robert Lewis Stevenson. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by David Wales. Robert Lewis Stevenson by Gilbert Keith Chesterton
and William Robertson Nicoll, Part one The Personality and Style

(00:24):
of Robert Lewis Stevenson by William Robertson Nicoll. As the
years pass, they disengage the virtue of a writer and
decide whether or not he has force enough to live.
Will Stephenson live? Undoubtedly he is far more secure of
immortality than many very popular writers. The sale of his

(00:46):
books may not be great, and he may even disappear
from the marts of literature now and then, but he
will always be revived, and it may turn out that
his reputation may wear as well as that of Charles Lamb,
for he engages his readers by the double gift of
personality and style. The personality of Stevenson is strangely arresting.

(01:11):
In the first place, it was a double personality. In
his journey to the Savannes, he reflects that every one
of us travels about with a donkey. In his strange
case of Doctor Jekyll and mister Hyde, the donkey becomes
a devil. Every jackal is haunted by his hide. Somebody
said that the strange case of Doctor Jekyll and mister

(01:34):
Hyde showed Stephenson as Poe with the addition of a
moral sense. Critics may differ as to the exact literary
value of the famous Little Book, but as an expression
of Stephenson's deepest thought about life, it will retain its interest.
He was not content to dwell in a world where

(01:54):
the lines are drawn clear, where the sheep are separated
from the goats. He would have a foot in both worlds,
content to dwell neither wholly with the sheep nor wholly
with the goats. No doubt, his ruling interest was in
ethical problems, and he could be stern in his moral judgments,
as for example in his discussion of the character of Burns.

(02:18):
He was, by nature and training of religious something of
the shorter Catechists. His earliest publication was a defense of
the Covenanters, and in his last days he established close
friendship with the Samoan missionaries. He was by no means orthodox,
either in ethics or in religion. Much as he wrote

(02:40):
on conduct, there were certain subjects, and these the most difficult,
on which he never spoke out. On love, for example,
and all that goes with it, it is quite certain
that he never spoke his full mind to the public
at least. Another very striking quality in his personality was
his fortitude. He was simply the bravest of men now

(03:04):
and then, as in his letter to George Meredith, he
lets us see under what disabling conditions he fought his battle.
Human beings in a world like this are naturally drawn
to one who suffers and will not let himself be
mastered or corrupted by suffering. They do not care for
the prosperous, dominant, athletic, rich and long lived man. They

(03:29):
may conjecture, indeed, that behind all the bravery there is
much hidden pain, but if it is not revealed to them,
they cannot be sure. They love Charles Lamb for the
manner in which he went through his trial, and they
love him nonetheless because he was sometimes overborne, because on

(03:50):
occasions he stumbled and fell. Charlotte Bronte was an example
of fortitude as remarkable as Stevenson, but she was not brave.
After the same manner, she allowed the clouds to thicken
over her life and make it gray. Stevenson sometimes found
himself in the dust, but he recovered and rose up

(04:10):
to speak fresh words of cheer. He took thankfully and
eagerly whatever life had to offer him in the way
of affection, of kindness, of admiration. Nor did he ever,
in any trouble lose his belief that the heart of
things was kind. In the face of all obstacle, he
went steadily on with his work, nor did he ever

(04:33):
allow himself to fall below the best that he could do.
An example so touching, so rare, so admirable, is a
reinforcement which weary humanity cannot spare. With these qualities, and indeed,
as their natural result, Stephenson had a rare courtesy. He was,

(04:53):
in the words of the old Hebrew song lovely and pleasant,
or rather, as Robertson Smith translate it, lovely and winsome
in all his bearings to men of all kinds, so
long as they did not fall under the condemnation of
his moral judgment. With a personality so rich, Stevenson had

(05:13):
the power of communicating himself. He could reveal his personality
without egotism, without offense. Many writers of charming individuality cannot
show themselves and their books. There is as little of
themselves and their novels as there would be in a
treatise on mathematics, if they could write it, perhaps less.

(05:36):
There have been mathematicians like Augustus de Mogan, who could
put humor and personality into a book on geometry. But
Stevenson had not only a personality, He had a style.
His golden gift of words can never be denied. He
may sometimes have been too precious, but the power of

(05:56):
writing as he could write is so uncommon that he
must always stand with a very few. We believe that
Stephenson's style is largely an expression of his courtesy. He wished,
as a matter of mere politeness and good will, to
express himself as well as he could. In fact, it
was this courtesy that led him to his famous paradox

(06:18):
about the end of art, his characterization of the artist
as the son of joy. The French have a romantic
evasion for one employment, and call its practitioners the daughters
of Joy. The artist is of the same family. He
is of the sons of Joy, chooses his trade to

(06:39):
please himself, gains his livelihood by pleasing others, and has
parted with something of the sterner dignity of man. The
theory that all art is decoration cannot be seriously considered.
It was certainly not true of Stephenson's art. He wished
to please, but he had other and higher ends. He

(06:59):
had to say satisfy his exacting conscience, and he obeyed
its demands sincerely and righteously, and to the utmost of
his power. But he was too good a man to
be satisfied even with that. Milton put into all his
work the most passionate labor. But he did not believe
that pleasure was the end of art, nor would he

(07:20):
have been satisfied by complying with his conscience. He had
a message to deliver, and he delivered it in the
most effective forms had his command. Stevenson had his message too,
and uttered it memorably. If the message had to be
put in a few words, they would be these good,
My soul be brave. He was bold enough to call

(07:44):
Tennyson a son of Joy, but he would have assented
with all his soul to Tennyson's lines. And here the
singer for his art, not all in vain, may plead.
The song that nerves the nation's heart is in it
self a deed. William Robertson Nichole, end of Part one,