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Hereditary Genius
149
any eminent relations at all, to those who have not, is much greater
than it is in Statesmen; and in these, much greater than in the Judges.
Their peculiar type of ability is largely transmitted. My limited list of
Commanders contains several notable families of generals. That of
William the Silent is a most illustrious family, and I must say, that in at
least two out of his four wives—namely, the daughter of the Elector
of Saxony and that of the great Coligny—he could not have married
more discreetly. To have had Maurice of Nassau for a son, Turenne
for a grandson, and our William III. for a great-grandson, is a
marvellous instance of hereditary gifts. Another most illustrious
family is that of Charlemagne. First, Pepin de Heristhal, virtual
sovereign of France; then his son, Charles Martel, who drove back
the Saracenic invasion that had overspread the half of France; then
his grandson, Pepin le Bref, the founder of the Carlovingian dynasty;
and lastly, his great-grandson, Charlemagne, founder of the Germanic
Empire. The three that come last, if not the whole of the four, were
of the very highest rank as leaders of men.
Another yet more illustrious family is that of Alexander, including
Philip of Macedon, the Ptolemys, and his second cousin, Pyrrhus. I
acknowledge the latter to be a far-off relation, but Pyrrhus so nearly
resembled Alexander in character, that I am entitled to claim his gifts
as hereditary. Another family is that of Hannibal, his father and his
brothers; again, there is that of the Scipios; also the interesting near
relationship between Marlborough and the Duke of Berwick.
Raleigh's kinships are exceedingly appropriate to my argument, as
affording excellent instances of hereditary special aptitudes. I have
spoken in the last chapter about Wellington and the Marquess of
Wellesley, so I need not repeat myself here. Of Commanders of high
but not equally illustrious stamp, I should
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