" "Oh, I do think the Spec, is about the best thing in
Edinburgh," Louis exclaims, and twice he was President of the
"worshipful society."
A contemporary of Stevenson's, Sheriff Guthrie, wrote in 1899, "I
knew Louis first in the Speculative Society; second, as a fellow
student in the University Law Classes; third, being called to the
Scottish Bar about the same time as a brother-in-law; and last, as a
friend with many interests in common. In the Speculative he spoke
frequently, and read some papers. We recognised his brilliancy, and
we delighted in his vivacity; but we misread the horoscope of his
future. We voted him a light horseman, lacking two essentials for
success--diligence and health. We wondered where he had got the
deftness and rhythm of his style, not knowing that the labour out of
which it was evoked was of itself sufficient to refute our estimate
of his powers of work. As to his health, we forgot behind that
slender, angular frame was not only a father's iron constitution and
a mother's nervous vitality, but his own cheerful spirit and
indomitable will.
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