Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 28, 1898 - Appendix
(50) Page 30
Download files
Complete book:
Individual page:
Thumbnail gallery: Grid view | List view
REFLECTIONS AND REMARKS
myself, I am still confident in my own heart that I spoke
at that moment not only with the warm approval, but under
the direct inspiration, of the author of the tale. I know,
Spada, I tell you I know, that he loved me as I uttered
these words ; and yet at other periods of my career I have
been conscious of his indifference and dislike. You must not
seek to reason me from this conviction; for it is supplied
me from higher authority than that of reason, and is indeed
a part of my experience. It may be an illusion that I drove
last night from Saumur ; it may be an illusion that we are
now in the garden chamber of the chateau ; it may be an
illusion that I am conversing with Count Spada; you may
be an illusion, Count, yourself; but of three things I will
remain eternally persuaded, that the author exists not only
in the newspaper but in my own heart, that he loves me
when I do well, and that he hates and despises me when I
do otherwise.'
' I too believe in the author,' returned the Count. ' I
believe likewise in a sequel, written in finer style and probably
cast in a still higher rank of society than the present story ;
although I am not convinced that we shall then be conscious
of our pre-existence here. So much of your argument is,
therefore, beside the mark; for to a certain point I am as
orthodox as yourself. But where you begin to draw general
conclusions from your own private experience, I must beg
pointedly and finally to differ. You will not have forgotten,
I believe, my daring and single-handed butchery of the five
secret witnesses ? Nor the sleight of mind and dexterity of
language with which I separated Lelio from the merchant's
family ? These were not virtuous actions ; and yet, how am
I to tell you? I was conscious of a troubled joy, a glee,
a hellish gusto in my author's bosom, which seemed to renew
my vigour with every sentence, and which has indeed made
the first of these passages accepted for a model of spirited
narrative description, and the second for a masterpiece of
30
myself, I am still confident in my own heart that I spoke
at that moment not only with the warm approval, but under
the direct inspiration, of the author of the tale. I know,
Spada, I tell you I know, that he loved me as I uttered
these words ; and yet at other periods of my career I have
been conscious of his indifference and dislike. You must not
seek to reason me from this conviction; for it is supplied
me from higher authority than that of reason, and is indeed
a part of my experience. It may be an illusion that I drove
last night from Saumur ; it may be an illusion that we are
now in the garden chamber of the chateau ; it may be an
illusion that I am conversing with Count Spada; you may
be an illusion, Count, yourself; but of three things I will
remain eternally persuaded, that the author exists not only
in the newspaper but in my own heart, that he loves me
when I do well, and that he hates and despises me when I
do otherwise.'
' I too believe in the author,' returned the Count. ' I
believe likewise in a sequel, written in finer style and probably
cast in a still higher rank of society than the present story ;
although I am not convinced that we shall then be conscious
of our pre-existence here. So much of your argument is,
therefore, beside the mark; for to a certain point I am as
orthodox as yourself. But where you begin to draw general
conclusions from your own private experience, I must beg
pointedly and finally to differ. You will not have forgotten,
I believe, my daring and single-handed butchery of the five
secret witnesses ? Nor the sleight of mind and dexterity of
language with which I separated Lelio from the merchant's
family ? These were not virtuous actions ; and yet, how am
I to tell you? I was conscious of a troubled joy, a glee,
a hellish gusto in my author's bosom, which seemed to renew
my vigour with every sentence, and which has indeed made
the first of these passages accepted for a model of spirited
narrative description, and the second for a masterpiece of
30
Set display mode to: Large image | Transcription
Images and transcriptions on this page, including medium image downloads, may be used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence unless otherwise stated.
Early editions of Robert Louis Stevenson > Collected works > Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Appendix > (50) Page 30 |
---|
Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/99383912 |
---|
Form / genre: |
Written and printed matter > Books |
---|---|
Dates / events: |
1898 [Date published] |
Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place printed] |
Subject / content: |
Essays Anthologies |
Person / organisation: |
Colvin, Sidney, 1845-1927 [Author of introduction, etc.] |
Form / genre: |
Written and printed matter > Books |
---|---|
Dates / events: |
1894-1898 [Date printed] |
Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place printed] |
Subject / content: |
Collected works |
Person / organisation: |
Chatto & Windus (Firm) [Distributor] Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] T. and A. Constable [Printer] Longmans, Green, and Co. [Publisher] Colvin, Sidney, 1845-1927 [Editor] |
Person / organisation: |
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] |
---|