thos of 'a voice that is still' when one
reads in his _Gossip on Romance_ and _A Humble Remonstrance_ his delight
in Boswell, his pleasure in _All Sorts and Conditions of Men_, and his
admiration for Scott as a Prince of Romance writers, for whose style he
had not one good word to say!

He had early edited and written for amateur magazines, and when only
sixteen he wrote a pamphlet on the Pentland Rising of 1666,[4] which is
still in existence but a great rarity; the same subject inspired a
romance, and another romance was composed about Hackston of Rathillet,
that sombre and impressive witness of the murder of Archbishop Sharp,
whose conscientious refusal either to take part for or against the
victim had from childhood appealed to Mr Stevenson as pathetic and
picturesque. He also wrote in those days a poetical play, some dramatic
dialogues, and a pamphlet called _An Appeal to the Church of Scotland_,
in which his father was keenly interested. The style in his early
letters and notes of travel was excellent, but he destroyed most of his
writings at that time as he worked for practice rather than for
publication. He contributed frequently about 1871 to the _University
Magazine_, in which, as he kindly lent it to us, some of us had the
pleasure of reading _An Old Gardener_ and _A Pastoral_, two papers of
much promise, very full of outdoor life, the caller air of the Pentland
hills and the scent of the old-fashioned flowers in the Swanston garden.

Edinburgh, as a picturesque, historic city, he loved with a life's
devotion; Edinburgh, as a frivolous social centre, he despised; so some
of the strictures he made on it in _Picturesque Edinburgh_, published
in 1879, and beautifully illustrated by Mr Sam Bough and Mr Lockhart,
gave dire offence at the time to the denizens of 'Auld Reekie,' and are
in some quarters hardly pardoned even now when death and fame have made
Scotland's capital value her gifted son at his true worth.

In 1873 Mr Stevenson made the acquaintance of Mr Sydney Colvin and a
life-long friendship ensued. The older man was of great use in many ways
to the younger, whose genius he early discovered, and whose leaning to
literature he encouraged. In the interesting preface to _The Vailima
Letters_ Mr Colvin tells of his help in that time of trial, and that he
used his influence to persuade the parents that Louis had found his real
vocation in literature, and ought to follow it. No doubt when the large
and full