SIR GASTON MASPERO. XIII 



vious tragic aspects of the great conflict, by the frightful loss of life 

 and by its economic disasters, we seldom stop to think of its appalling 

 effect in severing the international bonds created by scholarship, 

 and which count for so much in the advancement of human knowl- 

 edge. Scholarship is perhaps the most potent of the forces work- 

 ing for amity and mutual understanding among nations, upon which 

 in the last analysis the peace of the world rests. International gath- 

 erings of scholars, that have multiplied greatly during the past 

 twenty years and now cover all fields — medicine, the natural sciences, 

 philosophy, psychology, anthropology, philology, history and archae- 

 ology, were contributing towards this end. At one blow all these 

 efforts were swept aside and all hopes for the future shattered. 

 Maspero must have felt — perhaps more keenly than most scholars — 

 the cruel stroke which undid the work of years. Without the cooper- 

 ation of the scholars of all countries — and more particularly of the 

 two, France and Germany, that take the lead in scholarship in most 

 fields — international congresses are impossible. This generation 

 will pass away before a new era may dawn when the scholars of 

 the world will again be enabled to meet in council and to work to- 

 gether for the advancement of the highest aims of humanity. 



Many were the honors that came to Maspero during his career 

 from all parts of the world. The Academies of England, Germany, 

 Austria, Holland, Belgium and Italy and the learned societies of this 

 country elected him to honorary membership. The American Philo- 

 sopical Society elected him to membership in 1891. In 1909 King Ed- 

 ward bestowed a knighthood on him in recognition of his eminent 

 services to science — a very exceptional distinction in the case of a 

 foreigner. He was made a Knight-Commander of St. Michael and 

 St. George ; but perhaps the most significant of all tributes to him 

 is the circumstance that the directorship of the Service still remains 

 vacant, two years after he left it. This may be due in part to the 

 war, but in large part it is because no one has been found fitted to 

 take his place. 



If there is such a thing as a fitting death, Sir Gaston Maspero 

 was granted this privilege — to pass away under the shadow of the 

 venerable edifice on the Seine that symbolizes the intellectual glory 

 of France, and to whose luster he added by his distinguished career. 



Morris Jastrow, Jr. 



