Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 11, 1895 - Miscellanies, Volume III

FATHER DAMIEN
all frail clay, shall have lain a century at rest, one
shall accuse, one defend him. The circumstance is
unusual that the devil's advocate should be a volun-
teer, should be a member of a sect immediately rival,
and should make haste to take upon himself his ugly
office ere the bones are cold ; unusual, and of a taste
which I shall leave my readers free to qualify ; un-
usual, and to me inspiring. If I have at all learned
the trade of using words to convey truth and to
arouse emotion, you have at last furnished me with
a subject. For it is in the interest of all mankind,
and the cause of public decency in every quarter of
the world, not only that Damien should be righted,
but that you and your letter should be displayed at
length, in their true colours, to the public eye.
To do this properly, I must begin by quoting you
at large : I shall then proceed to criticise your utter-
ance from several points of view, divine and human,
in the course of which I shall attempt to draw again,
and with more specification, the character of the dead
saint whom it has pleased you to vilify : so much
being done, I shall say farewell to you for ever.
' Honolulu, August 2, 1889.
' Rev. H. B. Gage.
' Dear Brother, — In answer to your inquiries about
Father Damien, I can only reply that we who knew
the man are surprised at the extravagant newspaper
laudations, as if he was a most saintly philanthropist.
The simple truth is, he was a coarse, dirty man,
headstrong and bigoted. He was not sent to