noted by his son, that, notwithstanding the kind of work he had so

successfully engaged in, he was no mathematician, and had to submit



his calculations to another to be worked out in definite

mathematical formulae. Thomas Stevenson gave one the impression of



a remarkably sweet, great personality, grave, anxious, almost

morbidly forecasting, yet full of childlike hope and ready



affection, but, perhaps, so earnestly taken up with some points as

to exaggerate their importance and be too self-conscious and easily



offended in respect to them. But there was no affectation in him.

He was simple-minded, sincere to the core; most kindly, homely,



hospitable, much intent on brotherly offices. He had the Scottish

PERFERVIDUM too - he could tolerate nothing mean or creeping; and



his eye would lighten and glance in a striking manner when such was

spoken of. I have since heard that his charities were very



extensive, and dispensed in the most hidden and secret ways. He

acted here on the Scripture direction, "Let not thy left hand know



what thy right hand doeth." He was much exercised when I saw him

about some defects, as he held, in the methods of Scotch education



(for he was a true lover of youth, and cared more for character

being formed than for heads being merely crammed). Sagacious, with



fine forecast, with a high ideal, and yet up to a certain point a

most toleranttemper, he was a fine specimen of the Scottish



gentleman. His son tells that, as he was engaged in work

calculated to benefit the world and to save life, he would not for



long take out a patent for his inventions, and thus lost immense

sums. I can well believe that: it seems quite in keeping with my



impressions of the man. There was nothing stolid or selfishly

absorbed in him. He bore the marks of deep, true, honest feeling,



true benevolence, and open-handed generosity, and despite the son's

great pen-craft, and inventive power, would have forgiven my saying



that sometimes I have had a doubt whether the father was not, after

all, the greater man of the two, though certainly not, like the



hero of IN MEMORIAM, moulded "in colossal calm."

In theological matters, in which Thomas Stevenson had been much and



deeply exercised, he held very strong views, leading decisively to

ultra-Calvinism; but, as I myself could well sympathise with such



views, if I did not hold them, knowing well the strange ways in

which they had gone to form grand, if sometimes sternly forbidding



characters, there were no cross-purposes as there might have been

with some on that subject. And always I felt I had an original



character and a most interesting one to study.

This is another very characteristic letter to me from Davos Platz:



"CHALET BUOL, DAVOS, GRISONS,

SWITZERLAND. (NO DATE.)



"MY DEAR DR JAPP, - You must think me a forgetful rogue, as indeed

I am; for I have but now told my publisher to send you a copy of



the FAMILIAR STUDIES. However, I own I have delayed this letter

till I could send you the enclosed. Remembering the night at



Braemar, when we visited the picture-gallery, I hoped they might

amuse you.



"You see we do some publishing hereaway.

"With kind regards, believe me, always yours faithfully,



ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON."

"I shall hope to see you in town in May."



The enclosed was the second series of MORAL EMBLEMS, by R. L.

Stevenson, printed by Samuel Osbourne. My answer to this letter



brought the following:

"CHALET-BUOL, DAVOS,



APRIL 1st, 1882.

"MY DEAR DR JAPP, - A good day to date this letter, which is, in



fact, a confession of incapacity. During my wife's wretched

illness - or I should say the worst of it, for she is not yet



rightly well - I somewhat lost my head, and entirely lost a great

quire of corrected proofs. This is one of the results: I hope



there are none more serious. I was never so sick of any volume as

I was of that; I was continually receiving fresh proofs with fresh

• illustration [,ilə´streiʃən] n.插图，图解，例证 (初中英语单词)


• whenever [wen´evə] conj.&ad.无论何时 (初中英语单词)


• conclusion [kən´klu:ʒən] n.结束；结论；推论 (初中英语单词)


• desirable [di´zaiərəbəl] a.向往的；极好的 (初中英语单词)


• cottage [´kɔtidʒ] n.村舍；小屋；小别墅 (初中英语单词)


• amount [ə´maunt] n.总数；数量 v.合计 (初中英语单词)


• telegram [´teligræm] n.电报 (初中英语单词)


• manager [´mænidʒə] n.经理；管理人；干事 (初中英语单词)


• description [di´skripʃən] n.描写 (初中英语单词)


• reference [´refərəns] n.参考；参照；出处 (初中英语单词)


• character [´kæriktə] n.特性；性质；人物；字 (初中英语单词)


• wholly [´həul-li] ad.完全，十足；统统 (初中英语单词)


• sincere [sin´siə] a.真挚的；直率的 (初中英语单词)


• faithful [´feiθfəl] a.忠实的；可靠的 (初中英语单词)


• humour [´hju:mə] n.幽默，诙谐 (初中英语单词)


• profession [prə´feʃən] n.职业；声明；表白 (初中英语单词)


• parliament [´pɑ:ləmənt] n.议(国)会 (初中英语单词)


• counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)


• contact [´kɔntækt] n.接触；联系 v.联络 (初中英语单词)


• nevertheless [,nevəðə´les] conj.&ad.然而；不过 (初中英语单词)


• welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)


• constantly [´kɔnstəntli] ad.经常地；不断地 (初中英语单词)


• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)


• advocate [´ædvəkit] n.辩护者 (初中英语单词)


• abruptly [ə´brʌptli] ad.突然地；粗鲁地 (初中英语单词)


• impression [im´preʃən] n.印刷；印象；效果 (初中英语单词)


• gratitude [´grætitju:d] n.感激，感谢 (初中英语单词)


• plainly [´pleinli] ad.平坦地；简单地 (初中英语单词)


• learning [´lə:niŋ] n.学习；学问；知识 (初中英语单词)


• incident [´insidənt] n.小事件；事变 (初中英语单词)


• mixture [´mikstʃə] n.混合；混合比；混合物 (初中英语单词)


• genius [´dʒi:niəs] n.天才(人物)；天赋 (初中英语单词)


• thrill [θril] v.震惊；激动；刺激 (初中英语单词)


• appreciate [ə´pri:ʃieit] v.评价；珍惜；感激 (初中英语单词)


• peculiar [pi´kju:liə] a.特有的；奇异的 (初中英语单词)


• personality [,pə:sə´næliti] n.人；个性；人品；人物 (初中英语单词)


• anxious [´æŋkʃəs] a.担忧的；渴望的 (初中英语单词)


• intent [in´tent] a.专心致志的 n.意图 (初中英语单词)


• striking [´straikiŋ] a.显著的，明显的 (初中英语单词)


• hidden [´hid(ə)n] hide 的过去分词 (初中英语单词)


• temper [´tempə] n.韧度 v.锻炼；调和 (初中英语单词)


• patent [´peitənt, ´pæ-] a.专利的 n.专利品 (初中英语单词)


• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)


• knowing [´nəuiŋ] a.会意的，心照不宣的 (初中英语单词)


• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)


• volume [´vɔlju:m, ´vɑljəm] n.卷；书籍；体积；容量 (初中英语单词)


• legitimate [li´dʒitimit] a.合法的 vt.使合法 (高中英语单词)


• sincerely [sin´siəli] ad.真诚地；诚恳地 (高中英语单词)


• admirable [´ædmərəbəl] a.极佳的，值得赞美的 (高中英语单词)


• advertisement [əd´və:tismənt] n.(做)广告；宣传 (高中英语单词)


• strict [strikt] a.严厉的；精确的 (高中英语单词)


• sensitive [´sensitiv] a.敏感的；感光的 (高中英语单词)


• characteristic [,kæriktə´ristik] a.特有的 n.特性 (高中英语单词)


• melancholy [´melənkəli] n.忧郁 a.忧郁的 (高中英语单词)


• engineering [,endʒi´niəriŋ] n.工程技术；工程学 (高中英语单词)


• inevitable [i´nevitəbəl] a.不可避免的 (高中英语单词)


• seeing [si:iŋ] see的现在分词 n.视觉 (高中英语单词)


• tragic [´trædʒik] a.悲剧的；悲惨的 (高中英语单词)


• builder [´bildə] n.建筑者；创造者 (高中英语单词)


• penalty [´penlti] n.刑罚；惩罚；障碍 (高中英语单词)


• notwithstanding [,nɔtwiθ´stændiŋ] prep.&conj.虽然；还是 (高中英语单词)


• earnestly [´ə:nistli] ad.认真地；急切地 (高中英语单词)


• exaggerate [ig´zædʒəreit] v.夸张，言过其实 (高中英语单词)


• lighten [´laitn] v.减轻；点亮；启发 (高中英语单词)


• scotch [skɔtʃ] vt.&n.刻痕(于)；划伤 (高中英语单词)


• specimen [´spesimən] n.标本，样品；抽样 (高中英语单词)


• generosity [,dʒenə´rɔsiti] n.慷慨；慷慨的行为 (高中英语单词)


• sternly [´stə:nli] ad.严厉地；坚定地 (高中英语单词)


• publisher [´pʌbliʃə] n.书籍出版者；发表者 (高中英语单词)


• confession [kən´feʃən] n.招供；认错；交待 (高中英语单词)


• continually [kən´tinjuəli] ad.不断地，频繁地 (高中英语单词)


• rheumatism [´ru:mətizəm] n.风湿病 (英语四级单词)


• scottish [´skɔtiʃ, ´skɑtiʃ] a.&n.苏格兰人(的) (英语四级单词)


• genial [´dʒi:niəl] a.愉快的；和蔼的 (英语四级单词)


• pathetic [pə´θetik] a.可怜的；悲哀的 (英语四级单词)


• winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)


• contemplation [,kɔntem´pleiʃən] n.注视；冥想；打算 (英语四级单词)


• lighthouse [´laithaus] n.灯塔 (英语四级单词)


• shipwreck [´ʃiprek] n.&v.(船)失事；毁灭 (英语四级单词)


• edinburgh [´edinbərə] n.爱丁堡 (英语四级单词)


• worldly [´wə:ldli] a.现世的；世俗的 (英语四级单词)


• remarkably [ri´mɑ:kəbli] ad.非凡地；显著地 (英语四级单词)


• tolerate [´tɔləreit] vt.忍受；宽容 (英语四级单词)


• scripture [´skriptʃə] n.手稿；文件；经典 (英语四级单词)


• forgiven [fə´givn] forgive的过去分词 (英语四级单词)


• colossal [kə´lɔsəl] a.庞大的；异常的 (英语四级单词)


• theological [θiə´lɔdʒikəl] a.神学(上)的 (英语四级单词)


• herewith [,hiə´wið ,hiə´wiθ] ad.因此，附此 (英语六级单词)


• adherent [əd´hiərənt] n.拥护者 a.粘着的 (英语六级单词)


• veritable [´veritəbəl] a.真正的；确实的 (英语六级单词)


• abandoned [ə´bændənd] a.被抛弃的；无约束的 (英语六级单词)


• equity [´ekwiti] n.公平；公正 (英语六级单词)


• depressed [di´prest] a.消沉的；萧条的 (英语六级单词)


• filial [´filiəl] a.子女的；孝顺的 (英语六级单词)


• inability [,inə´biliti] n.无能，无力 (英语六级单词)


• propriety [prə´praiəti] n.正当；合适；礼貌 (英语六级单词)


• brotherly [´brʌðəli] a.兄弟般的 (英语六级单词)


• forecast [´fɔ:kɑ:st] vt.&n.预测；预报 (英语六级单词)


• tolerant [´tɔlərənt] a.宽容的，宽大的 (英语六级单词)