EMINENT FAMILIES. 179 



the world have been men of more than ordinary ability, but many 

 have been men who would not have been famous if they had not 

 had social, political or military advantages such as come to few 

 persons. It will be quite evident that when a man has such oppor- 

 tunities in this world as usually fall to the sons of great men it 

 takes less mental ability to become eminent than when he has to 

 achieve greatness by the force of his own mental powers. Why 

 then, it may be asked, is it that only 36 per cent of the sons of 

 eminent men succeed while 64 per cent fail? The answer is, of 

 course, the mothers are not equal to the fathers, and it is conse- 

 quently not to be expected that the sons will be better than an 

 average of the two. There is much truth in this answer, but it is 

 not a full answer, because of the sons of the same parents some be- 

 come eminent and others do not. We will find a more complete 

 answer in the ages at which these great men have produced their 

 sons, and to this end I have analyzed a number of cases in which 

 families have maintained their eminence through several gener- 

 ations. 



THE BACH FAMILY. 



This is a German family of musicians, and is the most cele- 

 brated for the number of its eminent men and the great length of 

 time which it has maintained its eminence. There have been more 

 than fifty eminent musicians in it, and their history covers a period 

 of more than 200 years. The founder of the family was Veit 

 Bach, who, about the year 1600, was driven out of Presburg, 

 Hungary, by religious persecutions, and settled, with his family, 

 in Germany. He had received a musical education, and was noted 

 for his skill upon the guitar. The date of his birth is not given. 

 His eldest son, Hans Bach, also received a musical education, and 



