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Hereditary Genius
325
wives of a large body of illustrious men were held by their intimate
friends, but the two following arguments are not without weight. First,
the lady whom a man marries is very commonly one whom he has
often met in the society of his own friends, and therefore not likely to
be a silly woman. She is also usually related to some of them, and
therefore has a probability of being hereditarily gifted. Secondly, as a
matter of fact, a large number of eminent men marry eminent
women. If the reader runs his eye through my Appendices, he will
find many such instances. Philip II. of Macedon and Olympias;
Caesar's liaison with Cleopatra; Marlborough and his most able
wife; Helvetius married a charming lady, whose hand was also
sought by both Franklin and Turgot; August Wilhelm von Schlegel
was heart and soul devoted to Madame de Stael; Necker's wife was
a blue-stocking of the purest hue; Robert Stephens, the learned
printer, had Petronella for his wife; the Lord Keeper Sir Nicholas
Bacon and the great Lord Burleigh married two of the highly
accomplished daughters of Sir Anthony Cooke. Every one of these
names, which I have taken from the Appendices to my chapters on
Commanders, Statesmen, and Literary Men, are those of decidedly
eminent women. They establish the existence of a tendency of “like
to like” among intellectual men and women, and make it most
probable, that the marriages of illustrious men with women of classes
E and D are very common. On the other hand, there is no evidence
of a strongly marked antagonistic taste—of clever men liking really
half-witted women. A man may be conscious of serious defects in his
character, and select a wife to supplement what he wants, as a shy
man may be attracted by a woman who has no other merits than
those of a talker and manager. Also, a young awkward philosopher
may accredit the first girl who cares to show an interest in him, with
greater intelli-
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