In the “Divine Comedy,” Dante speaks of Ulysses, of exploration of the
western seas and lands, of braving dangers, of overcoming obstacles, of
offering home, family, friends, life itself, in the quest of the great
unknown, its wonders, its beauties, its riches.
“O brothers!” I began, “who to the west
Through perils without number now have reach’d;
To this the short remaining watch, that yet
Our senses have to wake, refuse not proof
Of the unpeopled world, following the track
Of Phœbus. Call to mind from whence ye sprang:
Ye were not form’d to live the lives of brutes,
But virtue to pursue and knowledge high.”[12]
For two thousand years our ancestors, thus inspired, were facing the
setting sun, until the whole earth had been encircled by explorers.
Then, only a brief hundred years ago, the indomitable human spirit
turned eastward, toward the rising sun, the Orient, toward the buried
treasures and past beauties of the very peoples and civilizations which
had been pressing westward from the dawn of history.
Led by Layard, Schliemann, Evans, and a host of others, and chiefly
inspired by de Vogué, Howard Crosby Butler became a crusader in this
eastward tide of exploration. As a follower in his youthful Princeton
days, and in the broad and deep discipline of his graduate years, he
prepared himself. A short seven years after graduation, namely, in the
year 1899, we find him in the deserts of north central Syria in full
command—no longer a follower, but a leader, imaginative, determined,
successful, soon becoming distinguished. No one of us who knew the
gentle and almost too gentlemanly student of art and the classics under
Marquand and Frothingham would have divined his latent powers to command
Orientals, whether Arabs, Bedouins, or Turks. _Suaviter in modo,
fortiter in re_, he was first trusted, then almost idolized, by his
workmen.
It was the sterling integrity, as well as the consummate skill, of
Butler’s work in Syria (1899–1909) which led to the highest distinction
ever offered to an American and Christian explorer by a Mohammedan
government, namely, the unsolicited _invitation_ to enter and take
command of the excavation of Sardis. The Turks knew they could trust
Butler; they knew that he was absolutely honorable. The difficulties of
Sardis exploration had seemed insurmountable to others; the great period
of civilization and culture of Asia Minor, just older than the Syrian
and extending back to the Lydian and beyond, was buried fathoms deep.
These deeply buried ruins were to be entered under his brilliant
leadership between 1910 and 1922. His was the secret of
self-forgetfulness in a great cause. He never spoke to us of himself,
always of the workmen, of the colleagues, of the students, of the most
beloved Alma Mater. He was driven on, not by ambition, but by love—love
of his fellow men, love of his profession, love of beauty and truth.
Butler’s genial and idealistic view of life is reflected in the
characters and personalities which he brought to life, and now that he
has taken his place among the noble shades of the long period of 600 B.
C. to 600 A. D., the artisans, the architects, the poets, the merchants,
the rulers, the governors, even the shade of the supreme ruler, Crœsus,
will be grateful to him. We hear them murmuring: “We have been charged
with a mere love of gain and of the gold of Pactolus. You have shown the
world that we loved beauty, that we kept our covenants, that we honored
our deities.” Still more will the shades of ancient Syria and the shades
of honorable men and women of the early Christian Church, from its very
beginnings beneath the shadows of the ruined pillars of Sardis to the
glorious temples of Syria, honor and welcome him.
The span of Butler’s life as an explorer was only twenty-two years; his
name and his influence will endure as many centuries. So in _our_
bereavement we are consoled by _his_ immortality.
... That which we are, we are:
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield.[13]
BIOGRAPHIES BY THE AUTHOR
1883–1924
FRANCIS MAITLAND BALFOUR, Embryologist. _Science_, vol. 2, no. 31,
Sept. 7, 1883, pp. 299–301.
ARNOLD GUYOT, Geologist. _The Princetonian_, vol. 8, 1883–84, p. 308.
THOMAS H. HUXLEY, Biologist.
Memorial address before the Biological Section of New York Academy
of Sciences, Nov. 11, 1895. _Trans. N. Y. Acad. Sci._, vol. 15,
1895–96, Sig. dated Jan. 14, 15, 1896, pp. 40–50. _Science_, N.
S., vol. 3, no. 57, Jan. 31, 1896, pp. 147–154.
“A Student’s Reminiscences of Huxley.” Biol. Lectures, Marine
Biol. Lab. of Wood’s Hole. Ginn & Co., Boston, 1896, pp. 29–42.
G. BROWN GOODE, Zoologist. “Goode as a Naturalist.” Address at the G.
Brown Goode Memorial Meeting, U. S. National Museum, February 13.
_Science_, N. S., vol. 5, no. 114, March 5, 1897, pp. 373–378.
EDWARD DRINKER COPE, Palæontologist.
Memorial Biography. _Science_, N. S., vol. 5, no. 123, May 7,
1897, pp. 705–717.
“A Great Naturalist.” _The Century Magazine_, vol. 55, no. 1, Nov.
1897, pp. 10–15.
“Life and Works of Cope.” Introduction to Syllabus of Lectures on
the Vertebrata by E. D. Cope. Univ. of Penn., 1898, pp.
iii-xxxv.
“Work in the Mammals.” Address in memory of E. D. Cope, delivered
at the meeting in the hall of the American Philosophical Society
held in Philadelphia for promoting useful knowledge, Nov. 12,
1897. _Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. Memorial Volume I_, 1900, pp. 296–303.
HENRY FILHOL, Palæontologist. _Science_, N. S., vol. 15, no. 388, June
6, 1902, p. 912.
KARL ALFRED VON ZITTEL, Palæontologist. _Science_, N. S., vol. 19, no.
474, Jan. 29, 1904, pp. 186–188.
JOHN BELL HATCHER, Palæontologist. “Explorations of John Bell Hatcher
for the Palæontological Monographs of the U. S. Geological Survey,
together with a statement of his contributions to American Geology
and Palæontology.” Monographs of the U. S. Geol. Survey, vol. 49,
“The Ceratopsia” by Hatcher, Marsh, Lull. Washington, 1907, pp.
17–26.
MORRIS KETCHAM JESUP, Administrator.
_Science_, N. S., vol. 27, no. 684, Feb. 7, 1908, pp. 235–236.
Address of Welcome at commemoration of the founding of the
American Museum of Natural History. Unveiling of the statue of
Morris K. Jesup. _Amer. Mus. Journ._, vol. 10, March, 1910, pp.
60–67.
CHARLES DARWIN, Biologist.
“Remarks on Darwin.” _The Evening Post_, New York, Feb. 12, 1909,
p. 3.
“Darwin Celebrations in the United States.” _Nature_, vol. 80, No.
2055, March 18, 1909, pp. 72–73.
“Life and Works of Darwin.” Address delivered Feb. 12, 1909, at
Columbia University on the hundredth anniversary of Darwin’s
birth, Feb. 12, 1809, as the first of a series of nine lectures
on “Charles Darwin and His Influence on Science.” _Pop. Sci.
Monthly_, vol. 74, no. 4, April, 1909, pp. 313–343.
“Acceptance of the Portrait of Darwin.” _Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci._,
vol. 19, no. 1, pt. 1, July 31, 1909, pp. 21–22.
“The Darwin Centenary.” Address in reply to the reception of
delegates, Cambridge, England, June
23, 1909. _Science_, N. S., vol. 30, no. 763, Aug. 13, 1909, pp.
199–200.
JOHN I. NORTHROP, Zoologist. Introduction to “A Naturalist in the
Bahama Islands.” A memorial volume. 8vo. Columbia University Press,
June 15, 1910, 276 pp.
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE, Naturalist.
“Scientific Worthies.” _Nature_, vol. 89, no. 2224, June 13, 1912,
pp. 367–370.
“Alfred Russel Wallace, 1823–1913.” _Pop. Sci. Monthly_, vol. 83,
no. 6, pp. 523–537.
“A Great Naturalist.” _Amer. Mus. Journ._, vol. 13, no. 8, pp.
331–333.
JOSEPH LEIDY, Anatomist. Biographical Memoir. Read by title at meeting
of National Academy of Sciences, April 18–20, 1911. Presented to the
Academy at the April Meeting, 1912. _Biographical Memoirs National
Acad. of Sciences_, part of vol. 7, Feb., 1913, pp. 339–396.
LOUIS PASTEUR, Bacteriologist. “The New Order of Sainthood.” _The
Churchman_, vol. 107, no. 15 (whole no. 3560), April 12, 1913, pp.
474–475. Reprinted by Charles Scribner’s Sons, 12mo, October, 1913,
17 pp.
EBERHARD FRASS, Palæontologist. _Science_, N. S., vol. 41, no. 1059,
April 16, 1915, pp. 571–572.
JOHN MUIR, Naturalist. _Sierra Club Bulletin_, vol. 10, no. 1,
January, 1916, pp. 29–32.
GUSTAV SCHWALBE, Anatomist. _Science_, N. S., vol. 44, no. 1125, July
21, 1916, p. 97.
JOEL ASAPH ALLEN, Zoologist.
Foreword to “Autobiographical Notes and a Bibliography of the
Scientific Publications of Joel Asaph Allen.” _Amer. Mus. Nat.
Hist. Publ._, 8vo, Dec. 26, 1916, xi and 215 pp.
“An Appreciation.” _Nat. Hist._, vol. 21, pp. 513–515.
WILLIAM BERRYMAN SCOTT, Palæontologist. “The Work of Professor William
Berryman Scott ’77.” _The Princeton Alumni Weekly_, vol. 17, no. 10,
Dec. 5, 1917, pp. 225–226.
JOSEPH HODGES CHOATE, Lawyer. A Tribute from the Trustees of the
American Museum. _Mus. Publ._ 4to, June 25, 1918, 34 pp.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, Explorer.
“Colonel Roosevelt.” _The (New York) Evening Post_, vol. 118, no.
41, p. 7, Jan. 6, 1919.
“Theodore Roosevelt, Naturalist.” _Nat. Hist._, vol. 19, no. 1,
March 28, 1919, pp. 9–10.
“Roosevelt the Student of Nature.” _The New York Sun_, vol. 89,
no. 55, Nov. 3, 1921, p. 24.
SAMUEL WENDELL WILLISTON, Palæontologist.
_Journ. of Geol._, vol. 26, no. 8, Nov.-Dec., 1918, pp. 673–689.
_Science_, N. S., vol. 49, no. 1264, pp. 274–278, March 21,
1919. _Bull. Geol. Soc. of Amer._, vol. 30, pp. 66–76.
“Samuel Wendell Williston—The man and the palæontologist.” _Sigma
Xi Quart._, vol. 7, no. 1, July 19, 1919, pp. 2–6.
JAMES BRYCE, Author. Address on Viscount Bryce at the Memorial Service
in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, March 5, 1922.
JOHN BURROUGHS, Naturalist. “The Racial Soul of John Burroughs.”
Address at the Memorial Meeting of the American Academy of Arts and
Letters, November 18, 1921.
HOWARD CROSBY BUTLER, Archæologist. Address at the Memorial Meeting in
Graduate College, Princeton University, October 21, 1922.
-----
Footnote 1:
The author has written fifty-seven biographic sketches, forty of which
are listed in the appendix of this volume.
Footnote 2:
See his principal work, entitled “Naturalist on the River Amazons,” 2
vols., 8vo, John Murray, London. 1863.
Footnote 3:
Alfred Tennyson, Edgar Allen Poe, Felix Mendelssohn, Oliver Wendell
Holmes, William Ewart Gladstone.
Footnote 4:
Vallery-Radot, René. “The Life of Pasteur.” Translation of Mrs. R. L.
Devonshire. (London, Archibald Constable & Co., Ltd., 1906, pp. 416,
417.)
Footnote 5:
Osler, Sir Wm. “Man’s Redemption of Man.” 12mo. (Paul B. Hoeber, New
York.)
Footnote 6:
Aristotle (“Physics,” ii, 2). “Art mimics nature.”
Footnote 7:
Gen. 2:15; 3:19.
Footnote 8:
“The Vision of Dante Alighieri.” Translated by the Reverend H. F. Cary.
Canto XI, Hell, p. 47. “Dante’s Divine Comedy,” with an Introduction
and Notes by Edmund G. Gardner, M.A. (London, J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd.
New York, E. P. Dutton & Co.)
Footnote 9:
Longfellow’s Translation, Inf., Vol. XI, pp. 97–108.
Footnote 10:
This passage probably indicates that he was sensitive to being laughed
at for his interest in these animals.
Footnote 11:
“The Smaller Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, New York”
(jointly with H. D. Minot).
Footnote 12:
Dante Alighieri, “Inferno” XXVI, ll. 112–120. Translated by the Reverend
H. F. Cary, A.M.
Footnote 13:
Alfred Tennyson. “Ulysses.” Last four lines.
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