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HENRY BUTCHER AND FRANK .BALFOUR 61
but for anyone with a little feeling for Greek form and selfrestraint,
there was no greater treat than to listen earefully
to the finished balance of phrase and perfeet symmetry of
every speech which he delivered. Again, he never spoke
without the most laborious preparation : if it was only to
a handful of drowsy West-Enders on a bot afternoon,
Jebb would tell them everything they could possibly want
to know in language which betrayed the consummate
scholar in every sentence and in every word.
The same criticism of the mental output of S. H. Butcher
would, I think, be not unfair. His writings on ancient
Greece indicate a somewhat dormant faculty of philo·
aophical and historical grasp which, if trained, one would
suppose would have enabled him to produce contributions
of a more massive and satisfying type than those which
he gave to the world of learning. They, though fascinating
to read, are undeniably slight in their main message and
seem doomed to oblivion. Butcher was greatly beloved
and was showing powers of mind before his- death which
would certainly have landed him very high among the
leaders of the Unionist party. He was a talker of extraordinary
charm, variety, and humour, and one of the most
refined, high-minded men I have known. ·
Another very influential personality was Frank Balfour,
'killed on the Alps ctat. 82, just when his name as a biologist
was spreading far and wide. It was said of him that his
position among men of Science would have certainly been
equal to that of Charles Darwin if he had not been, in
Myers's words," translated unaware." His rapid progress
to eminence was due to an immensely vigorous and, I
should say, mora f1148Bive mentality than that of either
of his brothers Arthur and Gerald : untiring industry, and,
so it was reported, the possession of enough private
means to furnish himself with abundant mechanical
equipment for his researches. There was in him a noble
enthusiasm for truth as he saw it ; a rather alarming
sternness to anything like sloppiness or dishonesty of
thought ; and a fine steadfastness in pressing onward to