Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/121

 Glotz : Etudes siir f Antiqttitc Grecqiie 1 1 1 At first blush this method of formulating judgments seems unlikely to secure results of sufficient definiteness and accuracy; especially when, casting the eye down the lists, one observes grouped in grade 5 for in- tellect, Louis XVI. of France, Emperor Leopold IL, a clever, cautious politician. Emperor Rudolf IL, a dull bigot, Frederick 'illiam IV. of Prussia, who whatever his limitations as a man of action, was remark- ably gifted in many ways, and the late Emperor Frederick of Germany. Again, any rating for morals which puts Frederick Mlliam I., Frederick the Great, and the Great Elector of Prussia in grades 3, 4, and 5 respec- tively and accords to Emperor Francis II. of Austria the distinction of 7, seems open to grave question. However, the arrangement of the broad classes of geniuses, imbeciles, lunatics, degenerates and mediocrities is a simpler and easier matter than these more sharply drawn classifications, and in the main suffices for the author's enquiry. Applying this broad classification to the pedigrees of the royal per- sonages under review, the author concludes that the results obtained cor- respond in the main with Galton's law based on certain physical at- tributes in animals, that heredity accounts more satisfactorily for the appearance of genius or the reverse than environment or opportunity, that the inbreeding of families may be beneficial when the stocks can be graded high and are free from taint, that great power of mind and high character are more often found associated than separate, that the able and the noble are more apt to have numerous ofifspring than the intellec- tually feeble and the morally degraded, pointing thus to the survival of the fittest and the elevation of the race. Even if his conclusions be accepted in full, however, environment remains a force to be reckoned with. Doubtless some genius now and then breaks the leashes of circum- stance as fast as they are laid upon him, with no apparent loss in the development of his speed. Others get into the running only occasionally. And it is scarcely open to question that others never shake themselves loose from these bonds at all. The author has done his work with skill and good judgment and his book will be especially profitable for reproof and instruction to political doctrinaires of everv school. Etudes Socialcs et Jnridiqucs siir I'Aiitiqnite Grecqiie. Par Gustave Glotz. (Paris: Hachette et Cie. 1906. Pp.303.") The protection of life, property, and race purity belonged at first to the clan (genos). The parricide, the adulteress, and the erring maid were left to the anger of the clan gods — the only gods there were. They became by excommunication outcasts, unless they proved their innocence by an appeal to the ordeal, or judgment of god. The killing of a for- eigner, on the other hand, started a feud, or war between the clans, which could be ended onlv bv the blood-covenant. Then, in the Greek Middle