Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
Platanus Publishing
Robert Louis Stevenson was born at Edinburgh on the 13 November 1850 His father Thomas and his grandfather Robert were both distinguished lighthouse engineers and the maternal grandfather Balfour was a Professor of Moral Philosophy who lived to be ninety years old There was therefore a combination of Lux et Veritas in the blood of young Louis Stevenson which in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde took the form of a luminous portrayal of a great moral idea In the language of Pope Stevensons life was a long disease Even as a child his weak lungs caused great anxiety to all the family except himself but although Death loves a shining mark it took over forty years of continuous practice for the grim archer to send the black arrow home It is perhaps fortunate for English literature that his health was no better for the boy craved an active life and would doubtless have become an engineer He made a brave attempt to pursue this calling but it was soon evident that his constitution made it impossible
