42 Sir Sidney Colvin [Feb. 10, 



of his urt you will acknowledge him a master almost beyond compe- 

 tition. 



But what about the characters themselves, and the motives 

 and springs of actions underneath their words ? Granted, they are 

 not very numerous — but remember how young he died, and how 

 many of his projects had been nipped by illness. In romances of 

 the past a singularly keen historic sense — as is attested by those who 

 know their history best — came to the aid of his inborn creative 

 powers, and Alan 13 reck and James More are certainly the two best 

 Highlanders in literature. I am not forgetting Scott ; but Scott 

 himself would be the first to say so ; his own Highlanders in 

 " Waverley " and " Rob Roy," even in " The Legend of Montrose," 

 are apt to smack a little of romantic convention and the footlights. 

 Then who that has any sense of Scotland or of Avomanhood can forget 

 the charming contrasted pair, Catriona and Barbara Grant ? Or coming 

 to the last great fragment, " Weir of Hermiston," where do we feel 

 the breath of creation moving much more strongly than in the figures 

 of the masterful Weir himself, of his feckless wife, of the four 

 brothers of the Cauldstaneslap, of l)oth the younger and the elder 

 Kirstie ? This last personage, the elder Kirstie, with Alan Breck 

 and David Balfour, are the three in Stevenson's work who, as he 

 wrote, took the l)it between their teeth (we know so much as to 

 Alan and David from his own words), getting beyond his control and 

 going their own way and not the way he had first planned. Ordinarily, 

 what dominates in his art is not the creative impulse, but the artistic 

 care to strike a given key of narrative in each case and keep it, to 

 subordinate and control every incident, speech, action, or description 

 to the general effect of his design. Take an instance from " The 

 Master of Ballantrae." The tale of the two fraternal enemies, the 

 sterling, charmless younger brother and the accomplished, satanically 

 gifted elder, has reached the point where the elder is trying to seduce 

 to himself the affections of the younger's wife and child : — 



•' The next sign was a friendship this insidious devil struck up 

 with innocent Miss Katherine ; so that they were always together, 

 hand in hand, or she climbing on his knee, like a pair of children. 

 Like all his diabolical acts, this cut in several ways. It was the last 

 stroke to Mr. Henry, to see his own babe debauched against him ; it 

 made him harsh with the poor innocent ; which brought him still 

 a peg lower in his wife's esteem ; and (to conclude) it was a bond of 

 union between the lady and the Master. Under this influence, their 

 old reserve melted by daily stages. Presently there came walks in the 

 long shrubbery, talks in the Belvedere, and I know not what tender 

 familiarity. I am sure Mrs. Henry was like many a good woman ; 

 she had a whole conscience, but perhaps by the means of a little 

 winking. For even to so dull an observer as myself, it was plain her 

 kindness was of a more moving nature than the sisterly. The tones 

 of her voice appeared more numerous ; she had a light and softness 



