The North-Carolinian., 1856-09-13
TRDAY. SEPTEMBER Is. 1856. THE nauras COLLECTION
-Inheri.snce Of Talent.

Inheritsnce Of Talent.
contemporary says that great men usually
inherit their talents from the mother FMS
is popular belief, but not the less erroneous
The mistake has arisen from attending only to
those cases III which the mother had superior
mind, to the neglect Of the equally numerous
examples where the father possessed remarkable
abilities. Everybody quotes theSe1t that Ma
poleon derived his genius fTa5 other
Nobody mentions that Bnrisses 81. IIts. yast
abilities to his father. traVs onld sons
init similar blunder who should descrshA all
Americans as li.yllt-haired.
: The rule, for rule there is, lies deeper. Gt5s3
abilities in a word, arise from sueiia fort innss
al,.yn Of the mental Characteristics OF the par
ents ren1l the progeny a genius, though
neitler father l,rrl,ars. wefe s.ies
mine As sarefalE
6tlucidating the truth NOBLE
we have no doubt beyond controversy For
it is well known that the child takes its mental
nature in about equal portions from its parents,
and this fact at once leads to our conclusion
as well as explains why brilliant parents often
have. Ounces among their offspring.
Let us Illustrate this. A man has the purely
intellectual characteristics i'll great force but
is wanting in will; he is consequently IA dreamy
philosopher, or visionary specuIator. He
marres woman, who, with but ordinary intel
lect, has immense energy. One child of this
pair may combine the weakness OF both parents;
and will be in that event an irrrclaimabe fool
But another may inherit the mothers will,
with the fathers intellect ;and this child unless
ruined by bad education, is certain to become
distinguished. Or take another example. A
woman with no remarka bic abilities, but with
a fine moral nature is married TO man with
out principle, but possessing shining abilities
Que child of this pair may have the good quail
ties of both parents, and become IA Bunyan, a
Ncstor, or even Washington. But another
may inherit the deficiencies OF both, and
grow up, unless carefully guarded, to be-
come a brilliant villain. Or take third
instance One parent may have much imag gina-
ton, but little else, and the other nothing re-
markable, but great perceptive faculties The
union of these two characteristics III a child
will produce poet. The TRANSMISSION OF
either to excess unless balanced 10y strong
reasoning powers, may make only human
monkey a romantic fool.
The law explains also why SO few eminent
men belong to the same family. There have
rarely been two distinguished poets, painters,
generals or even statesmen, who were father
and son, or even brothers. The elder and
Younger Pitt, though both prime minister's aud
both famous speakers, were strikingly d'sslml-
lar in their mental constitutions, SO that TINS
example, which seems at first to oppose our
theofy III ledIiIv o"ot"i'o ~ '' " "
se consider that the mind has SO many and SO
dissinilar ingredients, ideaIity, causallty be-
levolence reverence, destructlveness, construc-
tivencss and that these are combined III NH
lions of varieties in as many millions of persons,
the wonder is not that two individuals, even OF
the same family, resemble each other so little,
but that they resemble each other so much
Given the score and odd of separate bumps
into which phrenology divides the brain, and
take the child of any two persons Whatever
aud who shall say in what exact proportions
out of the ten thousand possible ones, these
qualities ought to unite
There is too much falSity taught for truth on
this and similar subjects, not only III news
papers, but in elaborate books. The reason IS
that few persons think sonndly, or dare TO
deny preconceved Or popular ideas we would
have all men, however, reflect each Tor himself
"Prove all thing; hold fast to the good"