and the birth of the man ends or assuages it. We recognise in Wallace one of these men—a man of fate, given to Scotland in the storms of the thirteenth century. It is that factthe fact of his destiny and his fatefulnessthat succeeding generations have instinctively recognised. It is that fact in reality that we are commemorating to-day. There are some who have doubts and difficulties with regard to celebrations of this kind. There are some who cast doubt on the wisdom of celebrating with enthusiasm men and events of so remote a period in our history. How, they think, can you kindle enthusiasm about men or events of six centuries ago? I shall not trouble this assembly with answering such persons, except in the stanza which Burns wrote about the Solemn League and Covenant; of which there are two versions, which, with your permission, I will combine. Do you remember it? "The Solemn League and Covenant Cost Scotland blood, cost Scotland tears; But sacred Freedom, too, was theirs. But there is another class who urge, with more reason perhaps, that it is not timely or politic or even friendly to celebrate a victory in which the defeated foes were Englishmen. In my opinion it is no disparagement to our loyalty or our affection for England that we are celebrating the memory of the battle of Stirling and of Sir William Wallace. In the course of the long and bloody wars between the two countries England has many victories to record; but in the splendid record of her triumphs all over the world it is not worth while for her to celebrate the memory of such battles as Flodden or Dunbar. To us, however, the memory of this victory and of the man by whom it was gained does not represent the defeat of an English army, but the dawn of our national existence and the assertion of our national independence. Let us all, then, Englishmen and Scotsmen together, rejoice in this anniversary and in the memory of this hero, for he at Stirling made Scotland great; and if Scotland were not great the Empire of all the Britons would not stand where it does. This Appreciation of Robert Louis Stevenson was delivered at Edinburgh on December 10th, 1896. Lord Rosebery presided over what he himself called "a remarkable gathering," one which "crammed the Music Hall at four o'clock on an uncongenial winter afternoon." ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON In taking this prominent position this afternoon, I feel to be something of an impostor. I never knew or saw Robert Louis Stevenson face to face, and I am speaking among numbers here who knew him from childhood almost till he left this country for good. His mother is here. How, then, can I, in her presence, and in the presence of those friends who knew him so well, pretend to take a prominent part on this occasion? My part was a perfectly simple one. I wrote to the papers a genuine inquiry. I could not but believe that in this age of memorials and testimonials some stone or cairn had been put up to the memory of Robert Louis Stevenson. I should have been confident that such a memorial had been put up but for one trifling, |