Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1912-04-18
LINKED IN GENIUS.
Great Fathers Who Gave to the
World Great Sons.

An alIusion by Henry ". Lacy, an
acute Judge Of contemporary notables,
to Winston Spencer Churchill as a born
parliamentarian In whom the genius
Of his father, Lord Randolph Churchill,
lives again and who may yet prove to
overshadow the fame of Lord Ran
dOlph, even as William Pitt eclipsed
Thomas McCaleb, In the New York
American, to say:
I'VE are prompted by these illusions
to ask ourselves the we'll worn query,
Is genius transmissible? And, though
the most authoritative latter day die
tum of science answers In the mega
tive, there are not a few noteworthy
exceptions that involuntarily occur to
the mind
Might we not, first of all, cite from
among the ancients such fathers and
sons respectively as Philip of Macedon
and Alexander the Great, Hamilcar
and Hannibal, Marcus Junius Brutus
and Lucius Junius Brutus, Vespasian
and Titus? Also we find genius resi-
dent both IN Pepln and his offspring,
Charlemagne, to which case might be
added, did space permit, the few great
medieval English kings who were also
the sons of great kings. Nor should
we omit to mention the poets Bernardo
Tasso and his progeny, Torquato Tas-
so; also the great Nicholas Bacon and
the still greater Francis Bacon. In
deed, the list might be multiplied to an
appreclable figure by taking an ex-
tended tour in universal biography.
There are, besides, quite a number Of
fathers and their sons possessed Of
such extraordinary talent that they
might, by slightly stretching a point,
be likewise called men Of genius.
"In the biographies Of great Germans
we see this fact especially creeping out
now and then, and in France, to men,
ton only three cases, we find genius
exemplifed in such sire and offspring
as Etienne Saint Hilaire Geoffroy and
IsidOre Saint-Hilaire Geoefroy, as La
zare Hippolyte Carnot and Sadi Carnot
and as Alexandra Dumas pere and
Alexandra Dumas fls.
quite rich in illustration Of the ap-
parent hereditary transmission Of gen.
ius is the list among EngIishmen.
Here, combining our examples 10 those
whose fame belongs to the last CEN
fury, we may select at random such
names as Sir William Herschel and
Sir John Frederick william Herschel.
astronomers; George Canning. orator
and prime minister, and Charles John
Canning (earD, first viceroy of India;
Edward Bulwer Lord Lytton, novel
ist, and Robert, Lord Lytton Owen
Meredith, poet: James Mil. philoso-
pher and historian. and John Stuart
Mill, economist: Isaac DiSraeH, author.
and Benjamin Disraeli. Lord Beacons-
field. statesman and novelist: Gabriel
Rossetti. poet. and Dante Gabriel Ros-
setd. poet and painter: Thomas Ar
mold. educator ana historian. and Mat
thew Arnold. poet and critic: Justin
Mccarthy, politician and historian, and
Justin Huntly Mccarthy. advocate.
In American biography we find the
names OF such famous fathers and
sons respectively as Increase MatLer
and Cotton Mather. theologians; John
Adams and John Quincy Adams, both
presidents and statesmen: Light
[ Horse Harry Lee. patriot, and Robert
L. Lee, soldier; General Zachary Tay-
/ Tor and General Richard Taylor: Jo-
seph Story. jurist. and W. w. Story,
sculptor; Oliver Wendell Holmes. hui
Inorist and poet. and Oliver Wendell
| Holmes, jurist; Louis Agassiz and
! Alexander AgassiZ. naturalists: Ma