THE SPIRIT AND ART OF ROBERT
LOUIS STEVENSON
IT was by his spirit and his art that Robert Louis Steven-
son achieved his great distinction in nineteenth-century
literature. He wrote essays full of matter and stories full
of entertainment, but it is the spirit of the essays and the art
of the stories that have distinguished them above the work
of many other essayists who are as thoughtful and many
other novelists who are as entertaining. Essays more pro-
found and novels more illuminating to life and society have
been written by∙people far less famous than Stevenson, but
those writers failed to catch the popular imagination as he
did because they had not his spirit or they had not his art.
I am not treating Stevenson historically now. That may
be left to the future historian of nineteenth-century litera-
ture, who will find that Stevenson has an important and per-
manent place in the history of nineteenth-century English
literature, because he did more than any other one writer to
expel from English literature the depressing pessimism of
the latter nineteenth century, and to reintroduce into fiction
healthy activity in place of morbidity and triviality. But
Stevenson is too near our own time to be regarded merely
as an historical influence. He is still a vital influence among
readers who read, not merely to be instructed, but because
they want to be entertained and because they want to be
helped by one whose writings have been helpful to men. By
his gallant spirit Stevenson continues to help many who need
help, and by his cunning art he continues to entertain many
who crave entertainment. It is not the depth of his thought,
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