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 STERLING

STOCKER

(1906). He died of a painless cancer, and retained to the last (when the compiler visited him) his complete disbelief in all forms of religion. D. Feb. 22, 1904.

STERLING, John, writer. B. July 20, 1806. Ed. privately and Cambridge (Trinity College and Trinity Hall). After leaving the university Sterling became associate editor of the AthencBUm and secretary of a political association. For a time he then managed a sugar plantation in the West Indies. In 1833 he went to study in Germany, and on his return he was ordained a deacon of the Church of England. He was curate to J. C. Hare for a year ; but liberal German theology was modifying his beliefs, and he resigned on the ostensible ground of poor health. He took to literature, writing verse, stories, and essays in the magazines. Consump tion set in, however, and his later work was done in a struggle for life. His tragedy Strafford (1843) was dedicated to Emer son. Julius Hare edited his works (Essays and Tales of John Sterling, 2 vols.) in 1848, but he would now be almost entirely forgotten if it were not for the fine biography of him by Carlyle (1851). To Carlyle he wrote just before his death : &quot;I tread the common road into the great darkness, without any thought of fear and with very much of hope. Certainty, indeed, I have none.&quot; He did not believe in a personal God. D. Sep. 18, 1844.

&quot; STERNE, Carus.&quot; See KBAUSE, E.

STEVENSON, Robert Louis, novelist. B. Nov. 13, 1850. Ed. Edinburgh Aca demy, private schools, and Edinburgh University. His father was an engineer, and Robert Louis was intended for the same profession, but he was too delicate, and he took up the study of law. He was called to the Bar in 1875. He never practised, however, as his health was still poor, and he was much attracted to litera ture. He settled in London, where his contributions to the magazines commended

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him to many of the leading writers. His first book, An Inland Voyage, was published in 1878. Treasure Island and The Black Arrow followed in 1883 ; and four years later his Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Kidnapped won general recognition of his high qualities. He was chiefly occupied in writing short stories, and in futile wanderings in search of health. In 1888 he visited the South Sea Islands, and, finding there a suitable climate, he settled at Samoa, where for several years he continued to produce brilliant and abun dant work. His collected works (1894-96) fill twenty-seven volumes. Stevenson had discarded his Christian faith, if not all religion, at Edinburgh ; but this led to a grave quarrel with his father, and he returned to a phase of outward acquiescence. He disliked aggressive Rationalists, went to church occasionally, and at Samoa had daily prayers in his house (though the presence of his pious mother may have influenced this). The two best-informed writers on the matter, Mr. A. Johnston (R. L. Stevenson in the Pacific) and Mr. F. Watt (R. L. S., 1913), show that he was almost Agnostic to the end. Mr. Johnston quotes him saying, at Samoa : &quot; I am religious in my own way, but I am hardly brave enough to interpose a theory of my own between life and death. Here both our creeds and our philosophies seem to me to fail.&quot; Mr. Watt concludes that &quot; he was destitute of fixed creed or belief, and that he is properly described as an Agnostic &quot; (p. 273). D. Dec. 3, 1894.

STEWART, Sir James. See DENHAM, SIR J. S.

&quot;STIRNER, Max.&quot; See SCHMIDT, KASPAR.

STOCKER, Helene, Ph.D., German writer. B. Nov. 13, 1869. Ed. Viktoria Lyceum at the Berlin University, and Glasgow University. After graduating in philosophy, Fraulein Stocker travelled ex tensively over Europe to complete her 764