The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson – Swanston Edition, Vol. 03 by Stevenson
Familiar studies of men and books — The body-snatcher.
…Yet it is undeniable that much anger and distress is raised in many quarters by the least attempt to state plainly what every one well knows, of Burnss profligacy, and of the fatal consequences of his marriage. And for this there are perhaps two subsidiary reasons. For, first, there is, in our drunken land, a certain privilege extended to drunkenness. In Scotland, in particular, it is almost respectable, above all when compared with any irregularity between the sexes. The selfishness of the one, so much more gross in essence, is so much less immediately conspicuous in its results, that our demiurgeous Mrs. Grundy smiles apologetically on its victims. It is often saidI have heard it with these earsthat drunkenness may lead to vice. Now I did not think it at all proved that Burns was what is called a drunkard; and I was obliged to dwell very plainly on the irregularity and the too frequent vanity and meanness of his relations to women. Hence, in the eyes of many, my study was a step towards the demonstration of Burnss radical badness….
First published January 1, 1994
