132 KANSAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
teaching in the higher grades of schools that he became interested in the geology 
of Kansas; and among his earlier writings on his favorite science was a pamphlet 
issued while conducting a teachers’ institute in Norton county, embodying his 
observations on what he called the ‘‘Sunset Rocks.’’ His contributions to the 
newspapers and magazines on geology and to the State Board of Agriculture and 
Academy of Science were very numerous. He conducted investigations for the 
Academy which are of permanent worth as geological work, the results of which 
are published in the Transactions. 
For many years of his life he had a helpful companion in his wife, a lady of 
unusual literary and artistic merit, who was deeply interested in and associated 
with her husband’s labors. She died about five years ago. Most of his papers 
were illustrated by her hands. 
A list of his articles is appended to this sketch, prepared by Miss Jean Hay, 
the daughter of Professor Hay. 
The personal character of the man made him esteemed by all who knew him. 
As has been said, ‘‘ He was a scientist, a man of high literary culture, a close 
student, a gentleman in all that the name implies, and a citizen of more real 
worth than many have appreciated.’’ It is the character that is the real 
foundation of life, and that upon which we most love to dwell in thinking 
and speaking of our departed friends. In a peculiar manner the character 
of Robert Hay was such that his good and noble qualities could not be over- 
estimated or exaggerated, which can be said of few men. What we remember 
most about him is his goodness and gentleness; for, as he walked he scattered 
the fragrance of a kindly heart that lingers with us still. He was the personifi- 
eation of gentleness, and bound all hearts to him by the quiet demeanor that 
betokened the love he felt for all mankind. 
It could be said of him, as Carlyle said of Scott: ‘‘ There is no life of a man, 
faithfully recorded, but it is a heroic poem, rhymed or unrhymed ;’’ for truly the 
life of Robert Hay was an unrhymed, heroic poem. Simple and self-sacrificing ; 
undergoing privations; with insufficient compensation and little hope of reward 
—such was his life, that he might pursue and contribute to his favorite science. 
He was one of the heroes of the commonplace — the martyrs of our daily life — 
who suffer, and strive, and falland make no sign. His was that steadfastness to 
’ an ideal which makes heroes in an every-day life. He worked with painstaking 
zeal and patient abiding, through failure and disappointment, with slow and 
painful effort; and failed but to begin again. That is the spirit of true heroism ; 
for he steadily upheld his ideal with the courage and faith that fought and over- 
came ; that endured and suffered to the end. 
He was what we call a wise man—for he had in full share that wisdom 
which holds that the knowledge of the truth is valuable above all else for its in- 
fluence upon character. For wisdom is better than learning. The wisest man 
is not he who falls into the fewest errors, but he who has made the best use of 
what knowledge he had, be it much or little, for the growth of character and the 
good of mankind. In this sense Robert Hay was essentially a wise man in the 
wisdom that makes for what is best in the world. 
One phase of his life with which not many were acquainted, was his exquisite 
literary tastes and accomplishments. His reading and acquaintance with the 
best authors were wide and varied. His speaking and writing on literary sub- 
jects were marvels of beauty and quaintness of expression. He was especially 
conversant with the Victorian poets, and could talk by the hour most delightfully 
and learnedly of the literature of this period. His memory was wonderful, and he 
could recite at length from the masterpiecesin a most charming manner. He could 
