Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-18

until 1t suddenly is ended by marriages
into weaker and less noble strains.
CHANGING casually over the chart we
see such names as Louis II, the Great
Conde"; William the Silent. one of the
greatest men of history; william III,
! one OF England's greatest Kings;
Maurice, "the greatest captain of his
age; Wilhelm, "the Great Elector,"
founder of modern Prussia; Gaspard
II, renowned French admiral, and many
! others, both men and women, whose
names are an ornament to the pages of
! history
These northern families that sur
rounded Frederick (Hohenzollern) the
Great with a coterie of geniuses that
| shine above those romantic centuries
like a galaxy Of stars, included the
| MontmorencieS with half a dozen
notable generals; the Oranges, of which
William the Silent mot silent in the
| least, but one of the greatest orators
Of his time) and his son Maurice were
the eliminating figures; they included
also the BrunSwicks with 5 great
| generals and IL literary authors of
high rank and the Saxe-Coburg-
Brunswick Meiningen interrelated fami-
| lies, notable not so much for intellectual
genius, but famous for 300 years for
high moral virtues.
This latter family is the best morally
III all royalty ana LOT LIlIee Centuries u
was made up mostly of quiet, hard
working, patriotic folk, devoted to the
service of their countries, and during
that time it produced ID authors and
several scientists of more than ordinary
distinction. Nearly all the Danish, Bel
gian. Swedish and Norwegian royal
families today are of this blood. and
Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince
Albert, were both from this strain-all
hni Ia -haN oh
average in intellect, with most of the
members having sound Judgment and
lofty personal character.
Comparisons of Interests
One thing of great interest is that
while we all know that environment is
very important, yet it is difficult to
think OF any reason except heredity why
the SAKE oburgs should have a taste
and real capacity for literature and a
strong devotion to public service, with
no military genius to speak of in 300
years, while the BrunsWickS their
neighbors living amid almost the same
environment and circumstances, should
show strong literary talents coupled
with military capacity of a high order;
and at the same time the Mont
morencies, the Oranges and the Hohen-
zollernS were producing some of the
lived, with almost no interest In
literature, except the interest of Fred
erick the Great in Voltaire and that Of
his sister Amelia who was the patroness
Of the poets Goethe and Herder.
But these northern families do not eX-
haust the list of great royal geniuses.
Down in Spain, beginning back with
Sancho II in the eleventh century and
extending on down to Charles v, last
~ tho IIN1u
and the greatest man of his time, we
find that for 81 generations all but five
Of the Spanish SovereignS exhibited the
virtues of intellectual genius and moral
character that we think of as belonging
to a truly royal King. During this
period, out of the 81 Spanish princes,
princesses and Kings, ga perfectly
astounding number compared with
ordinary families-are rated by unbiased
character. Among the Al actual
sovereigns, 20 are placed by Woods
ratings in ranks and 10 for ability.
They were mostly Of the Castile-Arragon
blood, Of which Isabella, patroness of
Columbus, was the shining figure among
the women.
Decline and Bad Marriages.
And one Of the usually overlooked
DuL OIduldIlC ldCIS VI oil 4lASIOlJ
is that the sad days Of Spanish decline
coincide almost exactly with the bad
marriages of her Kings. 1t is difficult
for us to realize that only three
centuries ago Spain was mistress of the
world. Charles v carried her to the
pinnacle Of her greatness. He was a
great genius and had also streak Of
insanity He got his genius from the
Castile-Arragons and his insanity from
his grandmother, Joanna the Mad, an
obscure Spanish princess. This and
other marriages brought the Bourbons
onto the Spanish throne and they not
only guided Spain TO her ruin. but have
scattered degeneracy and insanity all
through the royal families Of Southern
Europe.
We should note here also that it was
through an unW1se marriage that
epilepsy was introduced into the Haps-
burgs of Austria, and 1t Is the comblna-
tions Of these two families-the Haps-
burgs and the Bourbons-that have
given rise to the popular impressions
that all the royal families are cursed
with degeneracy
The Bourbons have always been me-
diocre but the EapSburgs have produced
two truly noble names. The frst was
Maria Theresa of Austria, one OF the
great women Of all time. but she got
neT greatness IlUL lIOII LL4S JloEoOhl 30
but from one set of her grandparents
who were Brunswick-Pal And
Maria was the grandmother of the sec
end great Hapsburg, Archduke Charles,
who although he had the family curse
of epilepsy, led Southern Europe
against Napoleon and is described by
historians as lone Of the greatest
princes that ever lived" It is also in
| tereSting to note that he was the great
grandfather Of Alfonso, the present
| Spanish King, who although the Bour-
| bon side OF his family has been utterly
commonplace, does unquestionably re-
| peat many Of the gallant qualities OF
his Austrian great-grandfather.
Genius and Degeneracy.
We see thus a truly stupendous
drama OF genius and degeneracy, Of
| greatness and nobility, Of littleness and
/ decay. And We see both these human
| qualities almost precisely where We
would expect them on the grounds of
! heredity, but where we would not eX-
/ pect them on the grounds of environ
! ment, although every biologist and
! psychologist, as well as our common
! sense emphasizes the fact that environ
ment is extremely important. But this
! great historic picture shows that hered-
! ity is likewise important, and its great
! est lesson for us personally Is what 1t
| means in the marriages of our own
/ families
To the biologist royal blood is no diff
! ferent from common blood. While
wealth, rank and opportunity aid the
| ability OF any man to ind expression,
yet even these cannot escape the PEN
atty of marriage into low and degen-
crate blood. Medical science can aid,
often cure the physical and mental
weakling, education can aid the hum
blest and aid even more the greatest
intellect, but these wonderful environ
mental agencies cannot create Unborn
health, wealth. virtue or power.