son, but it would
only be of the Henleyish part of Stevenson, and it would show a
distinct divergence from the finished portrait of Stevenson, which
would be given by Professor Colvin."

And it were indeed hard to reconcile some things here with what Mr Henley
set down of individual works many times in the _Scots and National
Observer_, and elsewhere, and in literary judgments as in some other
things there should, at least, be general consistency, else the search
for an honest man in the late years would be yet harder than it was when
Diogenes looked out from his tub!

Mr James Douglas, in the _Star_, in his half-playful and suggestive way,
chose to put it as though he regarded the article in the _Pall Mall
Magazine_ as a hoax, perpetrated by some clever, unscrupulous writer,
intent on provoking both Mr Henley and his friends, and Stevenson's
friends and admirers. This called forth a letter from one signing
himself "A Lover of R. L. Stevenson," which is so good that we must give
it here.

A LITERARY HOAX.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE _STAR_.

SIR--I fear that, despite the charitable scepticism of Mr Douglas,
there is no doubt that Mr Henley is the perpetrator of the saddening
Depreciation of Stevenson which has been published over his name.

What openings there are for reprisals let Mr Henley's conscience tell
him; but permit me to remind him of two or three things which R. L.
Stevenson has written concerning W. E. Henley.

First this scene in the infirmary at Edinburgh:

"(Leslie) Stephen and I sat on a couple of chairs, and the poor fellow
(Henley) sat up in his bed with his hair and beard all tangled, and
talked as cheerfully as if he had been in a king's palace, or the
great King's palace of the blue air. He has taught himself two
languages since he has been lying there. _I shall try to be of use to
him_."

Secondly, this passage from Stevenson's dedication of _Virginibus
Puerisque_ to "My dear William Ernest Henley":

"These papers are like milestones on the wayside of my life; and as I
look back in memory, there is hardly a stage of that distance but I
see you present with advice, reproof, or praise. Meanwhile, many
things have changed, you and I among the rest; but I hope that our
sympathy, founded on the love of our art, and nourished by mutual
assistance, shall survive these little revolutions, undiminished, and,
with God's